Crystallization kinetics of sea-salt aerosols studied by high-speed photography

Morphological changes with decreasing relative humidity(RH) of supersaturated sea-salt aerosol droplets on a quartz substrate were observed using a high-speed video-camera.Stable gypsum(CaSO4·2H2O) or the metastable hemihydrate(CaSO4·0.5H2O) were precipitated as the RH decreased.The dynamic process of crystal growth under steady-state humidity was studied by controlling the RH;the metastable hemihydrate was precipitated at 70.5%-77.1% RH,and the apparent crystal growth rate was between 1.42 and 2.33 μm3/s.Stable gypsum was formed at 80.7%-82.2% RH,and the apparent crystal growth rate was between 0.70 and 0.81 μm3/s.     

高分子电阻型湿敏元件复阻抗的测量

为研究湿敏元件的湿度敏感特性, 在了解湿敏元件导电机理的基础上, 采用复阻抗分析法研究湿敏元件的湿度敏感特性。根据矢量法测量原理设计出有效的阻抗测量电路, 可对湿敏元件在不同湿度下的复阻抗进行测量, 且可实现在不同频率信号下对湿敏元件复阻抗的测量。测量系统主要由程控信号源和相敏检波电路两大部分组成, 分别采用DDS(Direct Digital Synthesizer)技术和模拟乘法器实现, 结构简单, 易于实现。实验结果证明了整个系统设计的可行性。     

SnO_2纳米晶的湿敏特性研究

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备SnO2纳米晶薄膜,并对其进行表征;初步研究SnO2纳米晶薄膜的阻-湿特性并计算其湿滞,得出:SnO2纳米晶薄膜随着晶粒尺寸的减小,其感湿灵敏度有所增大且湿滞变小.     

钛酸钠纳米线的制备及其性能

利用水热法制备钛酸钠(Na2Ti3O7)纳米线,并研究了该材料制作湿敏传感器的特性.结果表明:该传感器的特性较好,响应和恢复时间分别为5s和6s;当工作频率为20Hz,相对湿度在11%～95%变化时,该传感器的电阻变化为5个数量级,且电阻与相对湿度变化间的线性关系较好.     

Investigations on the Sensing Mechanism of Humidity Sensors Based on Poly(4-vinylpyridine)/carbon Black Composite by AC Impedance Spectra

1 Results Investigations on the sensing mechanism is important for understanding the electrical responses of humidity sensors to humidity change,and could provide guidelines for the design and synthesis of humidity sensitive materials with desirable properties.In this work,the sensing mechanism of humidity sensors based on quaternized poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP)/carbon black (CB) composite[1] was studied by measuring their AC impedance spectra at various humidities at room temperature.Under low humidity...     

湿敏电导的机理

从氧化物表面的吸附特点出发，认为表面ＯＨ对湿度敏感起着非常重要的作用；在此基础上解释了湿度传感器中电子电导和离子电导同时存在的微观机理，并给出它们随环境湿度变化的数学关系．理论计算得到的阻湿特性与实验结果符合得很好；该理论也能定性说明湿度传感器的快速响应     

Reconstructing temperature change in Central East China during 601–920 AD

Using historical records on first and last frost and snow, spring cultivation, David peach blossom, autumn crop harvest, grade of sea freeze and change in northern citrus boundary, we reconstructed temperature change during 601–920 AD. The mean temperature of the winter half-year (October to April) over Central East China during this period was about −0.22°C higher than that of the present (1961–2000 AD mean). During 601–820 AD, mean temperature was about −0.52°C higher than the present. During 821–920 AD, the mean temperature was 0.42°C lower than the present. The temperature fluctuations were characterized by a maximum amplitude of 1.05°C at the centennial scale, 1.38°C at the 50–year scale, 2.02°C at the 30-year scale, and 2.3°C at the 20-year scale. There were four peaks warmer than today (601–620 AD, mean of 1°C higher temperature; 641–660 AD, 1.44°C; 701–720 AD, 0.88°C; 781–800 AD, 0.65°C). Three cold periods were in 741–760, 821–840, and 881–900 AD, the mean temperature of which was 0.37–0.87°C lower than the present.     

The U/Θ effect of electricity parameters of the lotus root silk in the liquor with different pH values

The silk of lotus root is a kind of natural biomaterial with the advantages of easy absorbing and dissolving and poisonless. It may become a new engineering material for clinic and tissue engineering. However, the relationship between its electricity parameters and the pH values of the liquor that the silk is dipped in is unknown presently. The electricity parameters of inductance, capacitance and impedance of the silk were measured in the environment with the temperature ranging from 23℃ to 25℃ and the humidity ranging from 45% to 55% when it was dipped in the liquor with different pH values for 24 h. The results show that the inductance and impedance vary in U shape curves with the liquor pH value, and the capacitance varies in Ω shape curve. The minimal value of the U curves and the maximal value of the Ω curve appear at the point where the pH value equals to 7. The phenomena are called the U/Ω effect. It means that the silk has perfect biocompatibility with human tissues. The study results may imply that the silk have broader potential applications in biomedicine, tissue engineering and bioelectronics.     

The early Holocene optimum inferred from a hish-resolution pollen record of Husuansyan Maar Lake in southern China

A high-resolution pollen record of the past 13000 a from Huguangyan Maar Lake reveals the vegetation and environment changes in southern China during the Holocene. It shows that （i） pollen percentage of trees and shrubs reached 56% during the early Holocene （11600-7800 cal a BP）, of which the pollen percentage of tropical trees reached a maximum at 9500-8000 cal a BP, reflecting a hot and wet environment; （ii） during the mid-Holocene （7800-4200 cal a BP）, the pollen percentage of montane coniferous trees and herbs increased, while the percentage of tropical-subtropical trees decreased, indicating lower temperature and humidity; （iii） in the late Holocene spanning from 4200 to 350 cal a BP, the pollen percentage of herbs and montane conifer increased significantly, indicating a marked decrease of temperature and humidity. Our pollen data reveal that the time period 9500-8000 cal a BP in southern China represents a climatic optimum for the Holocene characterized by hot and wet conditions. This is consistent with the Holocene optimum found in lower latitude regions globally. We speculate that strong insolation might cause the northward migration of the ITCZ and subtropical summer monsoon front, which resulted in an early Holocene optimum in the Huguangyan area. The dry tendency and climate fluctuations of the middle and late Holocene could be associated with a decrease in solar insolation and frequent ENSO event.     

An experimental study of dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite at 1.5―3.0 GPa

Dehydration melting experiments were performed on ultrahigh-pressure eclogite from Bixiling in the Dabie orogen at 1.5--3.0 GPa and 800--950℃ using piston cylinder apparatus. The results show that （1） eclogite with -5% phengite started to melt at T≤800--850℃ and P = 1.5--2.0 GPa and produced about 3% granitic melt; （2） the products of dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite vary with temperature and pressure. Fluid released from dehydration of phengite and zoisite leads to partial melting of eclogite and formation of plagioclase reaction rim around kyanite at pressures of 1.5--2.0 GPa and temperatures of 800--850℃; （3） phengite reacted with omphacite and quartz and produced oligoclase, kyanite and melt at elevated temperatures. Oligoclase is the primary reaction product produced by partial melting of phengite in the eclogite; and （4） the dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite at pressures of 1.5--3.0 GPa and temperatures ≥900℃ results in formation of garnets with higher molar fraction of pyrope （37.67 wt.%--45.94 wt.%）. Potassium feldspar and jadeite occur at P = 2.4--3.0 GPa and T≥900℃, indicating higher pressure and fluid-absent conditions. Our results constrain the solidus for dehydration melting of phengite-bearing eclogite at pressures of 1.5--3.0 GPa. Combining experi- mental results with field observations of partial melting in natural eclogites, we concluded that phengite-bearing eclogites from the Dabie-Sulu orogen were able to partially molten at P= 1.5--2.0 GPa and T= 800--850℃ during exhumation. The ultrahigh-high pressure eclogites would have experienced partial melting in association with metamorphic phase transformation under different fluid conditions.     

Separation and analysis of the soluble trimer of Aβ1-40 and its effects on the rise in intracellular calcium

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the progressive neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein conformational transition, generally known as protein conformational disorders[1]. The general characteriza- tions of AD are the intracellular fibrillar…     

Stepwise prediction and statistical screening: B-cell epitopes on neuraminidase of human avian H5N1 virus

The B-cell epitopes of virus are associated with the antiviral drug and the vaccine screening. As the nucleotide sequences of neuraminidase （NA） of stain GD-01-06 were sequenced, we predicted the a-helix and β-fold structure and the indexes of the flexible regions of secondary structure of NA with methods of the Hydrophilicity plot by Kyte-Doolittle, the Surface probability plot by Emini and the An- tigenic index by Jameson-Wolf, and then screened statistically the parameters to predict B-cell epi- topes by the Hierarchical cluster and the Bivariate correlation and the quartiles with SPSS 13.0. The impact of variation of amino acids in NA on its epitopes was analyzed. The predictive results were evaluated by Wu＇s Antigenic Index and SWISS-MODEL. We found that the most possible epitopes on NA were located within or nearby its N-terminal Nos. 120--137, 81--84, 408--415, 273--282, 429--432, 356--368, 46--55, 146--155, 341 --350 and 198--209, which were the dominant regions of NA epitopes. Peptide 120--137 including the glycoprotein domain （NGT126 128） was first chosen as the B-cell epitopes on NA. NA in H5N1 strain isolated after 2003 lacked in No. 53 amino acid （I）, resulting in an increase in the surface flexible region of NA in GD-01-06 and an enlargement to their epitope regions （VEP48-48→ VEPISNTNFL46-55）. Conclusively, prediction of the B-cell epitopes on the NA based on multiple pa- rameters is useful for researches on the molecular immunology and drug screening and immuno-prophylaxis. A deletion of No. 53 amino acid （I） in NA in strain GD-01-06 might increase its anti- genicity.     

Response of mollusk assemblages from the Luochuan loess section to orbital forcing since the last 250 ka

This note presents a new result of terrestrial mollusk study from the Luochuan loess section since the last 250 ka. A total of 213 samples, taken at intervals of 10 cm in the S₀-L₃ portion, were analyzed for fossil mollusks. Generally, 150–600 individuals were counted in each sample. According to the distribution of mollusk fossil assemblages in the loess section, 11 mollusk fossil zones have been recognized, representing different climatic and ecological conditions. Three main ecological groups were identified according to the temperature and moisture requirements of each taxon. The cold-aridiphilous group shows maxima at about 240–220, 190–182, 150–140 and 74–66 ka BP. The thermo-humidiphilous set has high abundances for at least 6 times in the section at about 246–240, 220–216, 170–158, 92–86, 60–44 and 10 kaBP. Our results show that variations in mollusk ecological groups are related with changes in the Earth orbital parameters at the 41 and 20 ka frequencies. Maxima in thermo-humidiphilous taxa are in phase with accretion intervals of obliquity (41 ka period), reflecting the East Asian summer monsoon with 41 ka period in controlling variations in terrestrial mollusk ecological groups. In addition, maxima in thermohumidiphilous taxa appearing at about 246–240, 220–216, 60 and 10 kaBP, are consistent with procession (20 ka period) maxima, indicating that the procession period also plays an important role in adjusting the ecological pattern of mollusk groups.     

Hydrophobicity mechanism of non-smooth pattern on surface of butterfly wing

Twenty-nine species (24 genera, 6 families) of butterflies typical and common in northeast China were selected to make qualitative and quantitative studies on the pattern, hydrophobicity and hydrophobicity mechanism by means of scanning electron microscopy and contact angle measuring system. The scale surface is composed of submicro-class vertical gibbosities and horizontal links. The distance of scale is 48—91 μm, length 65—150 μm, and width 35—70 μm. The distance of submicro-class vertical gib-bosities on scale is 1.06—2.74 μm, height 200—900 nm, and width 200—840 nm. The better hydropho-bicity on the surface of butterfly wing (static contact angle 136.3°—156.6°) is contributed to the co-effects of micro-class scale and submicro-class vertical gibbosities on the wing surface. The Cassie equation was revised, and new mathematical models and equations were established.     

Flame propagation characteristics and flame structures of zirconium particle cloud in a small-scale chamber

Flame propagating through zirconium particle cloud in a small-scale vertical rectangle chamber was investigated experimentally. In the experiments, the zirconium quoted 99% purity was used and the diameter of particles was distributed 1–22 μm. The zirconium dust was dispersed into the chamber by air flow and ignited by an electrode spark. A high-speed video camera was used to record the images of the propagating flame. Micro-thermocouples, schlieren optical system and microscopic lens were used to obtain temperature profiles and flame structure, respectively. Based on the experimental results, flame propagation characteristics and flame structure of zirconium particle cloud were analyzed. The propagation velocity of the flame is quite slow in the initial 14 ms and then accelerates to maximum value. Subsequently, the propagation velocity of the flame almost keeps constant. The combustion zone width of zirconium particle cloud is 5–6 mm. Smaller particles burn mainly at the leading edge of combustion zone in the width of 1.4 mm followed by larger particles burning 1.4–6 mm behind the leading edge of the combustion zone. Gas phase flame is not seen in zirconium particle cloud and the combustion time of single zirconium particle is 1–5 ms, which depends on its original size. The preheated zone is 7–8 mm thickness ahead of the combustion zone and intensive chemical reaction takes place at 490 K. The maximum flame temperature increases at lower concentrations, reaches the maximum value, and then decreases slightly at higher concentrations.     

Regenerating plants from cryopreserved adventitious buds of haploids in rice

A large number of adventitious buds were induced fromin vitro cultured young inflorescences of haploids of rice. Having been subcultured on solidified subculture media at 26°C for 7 days, the adventitious buds were loaded into 1.8 mL plastic cryotubes with cryoprotectant and kept on ice for 45–60 min. After cooled at a rate of 1.0°C/min down to −40°C, the samples, were kept in liquid nitrogen. The adventitious buds which have been cryopreserved for about 30 days were thawed rapidly in 38–40°C water and then plated on solidified MS medium containing 3% sucrose, 0.5 mg/L NAA and 2.0 mg/L kinetin. After plated, 23%–32% of adventitious buds resumed growth and 15%–22% regenerated plantlets. The results of this work indicated that the adventitious buds derived fromin vitro cultured young inflorescences is a critical factor for the success and subculturing adventitious buds on MS medium containing 3% sucrose and 4% sorbitol or 20% potato extract is essential to the procedure. The effective cryoprotectant is 10% DMSO (dimethyl sulfoximide)+0.5 mol/L sorbitol. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province Zhang Zhihong: born in 1963, Lecturer     

Influence of PrP 106―126 on expression of laminin and fibronectin in astrocyte

Astrogliosis is a hallmark of prion disease, but the metabolic alterations of astrocytes remain poorly documented. A synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acid 106-126 of the human prion protein （PrP） has been shown to be toxic to neurons. In this study, the effects of PrP 106-126 on astrocytes were investigated in vitro. The proliferation of astrocytes was significantly （P 〈 0.05） increased when grown in media conditioned with PrP 106-126 （80 μmol/L） from microglia. The expression of laminin （LN） and fibronectin （FN） was examined at both mRNA and protein levels. The results showed that exposure of astrocytes to PrP 106-126 enhanced the expression of LN and FN. The increase of FN in astrocyte cultures required cytokines previously released by activated microglia. This study reveals the expression of LN and FN affected by PrP106-126.     

Determination of sulfonamides with fluorescent inclusion complex of carbonic anhydrase and dansylamide

A new fluorimetric method for determination of sulfonamides was described based on the formation of a fluorescent inclusion complex of carbonic anhydrase(CA) with dansylamide(DNSA). The binding of DNSA to CA resulted in an enhancement in the fluorescence emission at 460 nm with excitation at 280 nm. Dissociation constants were determined for the carbonic anhydrase sulfonamide complexes. Linear calibration graphs of sulfonamides were obtained within a concentration range of 0- 0.058 μg/mL for DNSA; 0-0.344 μg/mL for sulfanilamide (SAN) and 0-0.286 μg/mL for P toluenesulfonamide (PTSN). The relative standard deviations were within 1.8%-4.2%. Limits of detection for DNSA, SAN and PTSN were 0.84, 19.5 and 6.1 ng/mL, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of sulfonamides in cow milk at ng/mL level.     

Electron field emission from nano-crystalline Si films deposited by inductively coupled plasma CVD at room temperature

ELECTRON FIELD EMISSION IS ONE OF THE INTERESTING PER- FORMANCES OF NANO-SCALE MATERIALS [1-3]. CARBON NANO- TUBES HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO BE THE MOST FASCINAT- ING MATERIAL OF ELECTRON FIELD EMISSION, BUT THEIR INSTA- BILITY OF EMISSION DUE TO THE AGING EFFECT LIMITS THEIR APPLICATION IN VACUUM ELECTRONICS [4]. SI TIPS HAVE MORE FAVORITE GEOMETRIC FEATURE AND MORE STABLE C…     

Micro-Raman investigations on the structures of the surface and the inner of MgSO<Subscript>4</Subscript> droplets

Spherical MgSO4 droplets were deposited by a syringe on the hydrophobic Teflon substrate. Using micro-Raman technique, the laser beam was highly focused twice on the surface and in the center of spherlcel droplets. The Raman spectra for the surface and the inner of MgSO4 droplets were accordingly obtained, suggesting formation of a thin layer of gels on MgSO4 droplets at low relative humidity. The gel layer covered the surface and exhibited a significant delay in response to the change of amblent relative humidity, resulting in the structural difference between the surface and the inner of MgSO4 droplets.