Enantiomeric Composition of Monoterpene Hydrocarbons in Some Conifers and Receptor Neuron Discrimination of α-Pinene and Limonene Enantiomers in the Pine Weevil, Hylobius abietis

The enantiomeric composition of seven monoterpene hydrocarbons in headspace volatiles of spruce sawdust and seedlings (Picea abies), pine seedlings (Pinus sylvestris), and branches of juniper (Juniperus communis) was determined by gas chromatographic separation on a -Cyclodextrin column. For the six monoterpenes, -pinene, camphene, -pinene, sabinene, limonene, and -phellandrene, both enantiomers were present, whereas for 3-carene only the (+)-configuration was found. The amount of each enantiomer varied considerably both in relation to total amount of all of them, and for the six pairs also in relation to the opposite enantiomer. One olfactory receptor neuron in the pine weevil (Hylobius abietis) showed a strong response to -pinene when stimulated with all four headspace materials via a GC equipped with a DB-WAX column. The same neuron was subsequently tested with repeated stimulations via the GC effluent containing the (+)- or (–)-enantiomer. A marked better response to (+)- than to (–)--pinene was elicited. Another olfactory receptor neuron that responded strongly to limonene when stimulated with the spruce volatiles was tested for enantiomers of limonene. This neuron responded more strongly to (–)- than to (+)-limonene, when stimulated alternately with each of the limonene enantiomers. Discrimination between enantiomers by plant olfactory receptor neurons suggests that the enantiomeric ratios of volatile compounds may be important in host location by the pine weevil.     

Rigid-Flexible Coupling Dynamic Analysis of Sub-Launched Vehicle During the Vertical Tube-Exit Stage

During the launching stage,hydrodynamic pressure and adapters’ reaction loads can influence the vehicle’s rigid motion as well as cause its structural vibration,which is a typical rigid-flexible coupling dynamic problem. This paper presents a 2-D rigid-flexible coupling model to calculate the vehicle’s dynamic responses in that period.The vehicle was equivalent to a flexure beam with axial deformation. Hybrid coordinate and modal superposition methods were used to describe its large rigid displacement and small deformation. By the second Lagrange equation,the vehicle centroid’s displacements,rotational angle and modal coordinates were chosen as generalized coordinates and then the vehicle ’s rigid-flexible coupling dynamic equations were obtained. By numerical simulation,the results of vehicle’s motion parameters and transverse internal loads were acquired.The calculation results showed that differences of the vehicle’s motion parameters between the rigid-flexible coupling model and the rigid body assumption are noticeable and the peak magnitude of the vehicle’s transverse internal loads in the rigid-flexible coupling model is higher remarkably than that in the rigid body assumption.     

The Sanaga discharge at the Edea Catchment outlet (Cameroon): An example of hydrologic responses of a tropical rain‐fed river system to changes in precipitation and groundwater inputs and to flow regulation

The Sanaga River is one of Sub‐Saharan Africa's largest and greatly regulated rivers. Available flow data for this hydrosystem largely cover the pre‐ and post‐regulation periods. From comparisons between unregulated (hypothetical) and observed scenarios, it has been possible to separate and to quantify hydro‐climatic (groundwater + rainfall) change effects from anthropogenic impacts (especially dam‐related alterations). To appreciate shifts in the river regime, discontinuity detection tests and the IHA model were applied to discharge data series reflecting average and extreme flow conditions, respectively. Results obtained principally from the Hubert segmentation method reveal that a major discontinuity occurred in 1970–1971 separating a surplus phase between 1945–1946 and 1969–1970, and a deficient and much contrasted one, from 1971/1972. This implies that the Sanaga catchment is dominantly affected by hydro‐climatic changes. However, wide land cover/land use changes experienced here since 1988 have resulted in an increase in surface runoff. Additional quickflows linked to these changes may have partly compensated for the substantial decline in the dry season rainfall and groundwater inputs observed from this date. Although at the monthly scale, dam‐related impacts on average flows increase with stage of regulation, the seasonal variability of the river regime remains generally unaffected. A comparison of the IHA statistics, calculated from unregulated and observed streamflow data, show that hydrologic shifts occurring in maximum and minimum discharges are mostly significant from 1971/1972 and are mainly due to the action of dams. Minimum flows appear, however, widely impacted, thus reflecting the prime objective assigned to the existing reservoirs, constructed to supplement flows for hydroelectricity production during the dry season. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relaxation-Induced Significant Room-Temperature Dielectric Pulsing Effects

Thermo-responsive dielectric materials are in urgent demand owing to the rapid development of smart electronic/electrical systems. Although different types and structures of thermally responsive dielectric materials have been continuously reported, their dielectric response behaviors all originate from thermodynamic phase transitions. Herein, it is demonstrated that structural relaxation in poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), a non-thermodynamic phase transition, can induce a significant thermal dielectric pulse at room temperature. The dielectric pulse strength of up to 6.3 × 10⁵ at 20 Hz, with a dielectric pulsing temperature of 24 °C, is achieved from polyethylene glycol (PEG)-PVDF coaxial nanofibrous films (PVDF@PEG), fabricated via a continuous blow spinning method. Moreover, the films exhibit excellent flexibility, adjustable strength and toughness, switchable hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, and effective thermal management capability. The relaxation-induced dielectric pulsing effect, outstanding multifunctionality, and simple preparation combine to promote further scalability and prospects of PVDF@PEG. In particular, the work contributes to the discovery of the relaxation-induced dielectric response mechanism, which provides a new strategy for the generation of thermo-responsive dielectric materials.     

Surface energy-mediated fibronectin adsorption and osteoblast responses on nanostructured diamond

Nanostructured diamond have potential applications in many biomedical related fields and demonstrated extraordinary capacity to influence cellular responses. Studying the surface property of nanodiamond and its influence to protein adsorption and subsequent cellular responses along with the mechanism behind such capacity becomes more important. Here the role of surface energy associated with nanostructured diamond in modulating fibronectin and osteoblast(OB, bone forming cells) responses was investigated. Nanocrystalline diamond(NCD) and submicron crystalline diamond(SMCD) films with controllable surface energy were prepared by microwave-enhanced plasma chemical vapor deposition(MPCVD) techniques. Fibronectin adsorption on the diamond films with varied surface energy values was measured via the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and the relationship between the surface energy and fibronectin adsorption was studied. The result indicated that fibronectin adsorption on nanostructured surfaces was closely related to both surface energy and material microstructures. The spreading and migration of OB aggregates(each containing 30–50 cells) on the NCD with varied surface energy values were also studied. The result indicates a correlation between the cell spreading and migration on nanodiamond and the surface energy of nanostructured surface.     

An Achilles heel: denial of service attacks on Australian critical information infrastructures

Critical, or national, information infrastructure protection, referred to as either CIIP or NIIP, has been highlighted as a critical factor in overall national security by the United States, the United Kingdom, India and the European Community. As nations move inexorably towards so-called ‘digital economies’, critical infrastructure depends on information systems to process, transfer, store and exchange information through the Internet. Electronic attacks such as denial of service attacks on critical information infrastructures challenge the law and raise concerns. A myriad of issues potentially plague the protection of critical information infrastructures owing to the lack of legal regulation aimed at ensuring the protection of critical information infrastructures. This paper will highlight the legal concerns that relate to the denial of service attacks on critical information infrastructures and provide an introductory overview of the law as it relates to CIIP in Australia.     

Design of experiments for bivariate binary responses modelled by Copula functions

Optimal design for generalized linear models has primarily focused on univariate data. Often experiments are performed that have multiple dependent responses described by regression type models, and it is of interest and of value to design the experiment for all these responses. This requires a multivariate distribution underlying a pre-chosen model for the data. Here, we consider the design of experiments for bivariate binary data which are dependent. We explore Copula functions which provide a rich and flexible class of structures to derive joint distributions for bivariate binary data. We present methods for deriving optimal experimental designs for dependent bivariate binary data using Copulas, and demonstrate that, by including the dependence between responses in the design process, more efficient parameter estimates are obtained than by the usual practice of simply designing for a single variable only. Further, we investigate the robustness of designs with respect to initial parameter estimates and Copula function, and also show the performance of compound criteria within this bivariate binary setting.     

Latent growth curve modeling for longitudinal ordinal responses with applications

In this paper, we consider the use of the latent growth curve model to analyze longitudinal ordinal categorical data that involve measurements at different time points. By operating on the assumption that the ordinal response variables at different time points are related to normally distributed underlying continuous variables, and by further modeling these underlying continuous variables for different time points with the latent growth curve model, we achieve a comprehensive and flexible model with straightforward interpretations and a variety of applications. We discuss the applications of the model in treatment comparisons and in the analysis of the covariate effects. Moreover, one prominent advantage of the model lies in its ability to address possible differences in the initial conditions for the subjects who take part in different treatments. Making use of this property, we also develop a new method to test the equivalence of two treatments that involve ordinal responses obtained at two different time points. A real data set is used to illustrate the applicability and practicality of the proposed approach.     

结构振动控制仿真分析软件TSHOW

介绍结构振动控制仿真分析软件TSHOW基于结构振动控制的算法和原理,建立了在无控、主动控制、隔振控制和半主动控制时结构运动的微分方程,并应用MATLAB控制系统工具箱（Control System Toolbox）中的函数,研制了仿真分析程序。对于实验结果,经TSHOW进行后处理,可以与仿真结果进行对比,从而分析控制实验的效果。仿真结果以图形方式显示,内容包括控制力时程、所选楼层的动力响应等,例如位移、速度、加速度时程。频域分析包括位移、速度、加速度的幅频响应曲线。所绘曲线的显示特性可以按照要求进行设置和调整。为了探求隔振层和控制装置的动力特性,利用图形技术,实现了层间恢复力-位移曲线的动态显示。