Study on the specific interaction between angiogenin and aptamer by atomic force microscopy （AFM）

The specific interaction between angiogenin and aptamer has been investigated by using AFM. The specificity of the interaction is revealed by comparing the binding probability of aptamer to other elements in a series of control experiments. The results have shown that there is specific interaction force between angiogenin and aptamer. Moreover, the single molecular pull-off force between angiogenin and aptamer has also been determined using the Poisson statistical method to be 133.7±11.7 pN. These findings obtained are helpful to the better revelation of recognition mechanism between angiogenin and aptamer, which provided basis for further understanding the inhibition of the aptamer to angiogenic activity.     

Impacts of intraseasonal oscillation on the onset and interannual variation of the Indian summer monsoon

The role of the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) on the seasonal and interannual variations of the Indian summer monsoon is investigated based on the analysis of observational data. It is shown that the ISO significantly contributes to the establishment of low-level westerlies during the monsoon onset and developing periods. The effect of the ISO on the annual cycle of the monsoon is through nonlinear eddy momentum transport. On the interannual timescale, the Indian summer monsoon rainfall exhibits a significant out-of-phase relationship with the ISO intensity over the Indian monsoon region. In strong ISO years it appears the weak monsoon when there is an abnormal high over the India subcontinent in the lower troposphere. In weak ISO years there exists an abnormal low and the strong monsoon appears. Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB403602), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40225012 and 40775039) and Chinese COPES Program (Grant No. GYHY200706005)     

Multiuser underwater acoustic communication using single-element virtual time reversal mirror

Pattern time delay shift coding (PDS) scheme is introduced and combined with spread spectrum technique called SS-PDS for short which is power-saving and competent for long-range underwater acoustic networks. Single-element virtual time reversal mirror (VTRM) is presented in this paper and validated by the lake trial results. Employing single-element VTRM in multiuser communication system based on SS-PDS can separate different users’ information simultaneously at master node as indicated in the simulation results. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 60802060) and Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 200802171061)     

On the development of the GRAPES——A new generation of the national operational NWP system in China

Numerical weather prediction （NWP） has become one of the most important means for weather forecasts in the world. It also mirrors a nation＇s comprehensive strength in meteorology. In 2000, China Meteorological Administration （CMA） established the National Innovative Base for Meteorological Numerical Prediction in the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences （CAMS）, to work on developing a new generation of the national operational NWP system-Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System （GRAPES）, to enhance meteorological services in China in the new century. In recent years, the GRAPES has witnessed a fast development. The GRAPES has been set up as an integration of the model framework, data assimilation, regional and global NWP system, which can be commonly used for both operation and research. In this paper, a brief review is made for illustrating the GRAPES system, including the advanced designs of the GRAPES, its diverse applications in multi-fields, and efficiencies of the regional and global GRAPES in operational applications based on hindcast results.     

New research advancement in electrical engineering field of China-Reviews on special issue of Science in China Series E: Technological Sciences

Based on, but not limited to the research results of electrical engineering published in the special issue of Science in China Series E, June 2008, this essay gives a brief review on a wide range of state-of-art advancement in electrical engineering field of China, which includes power system modeling, analysis and control, risk assessments in power system, etc. Supported by the National Science Fundation of China (Grant No. 50525721, 50595411), and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB217900)     

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography with femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser and photonic crystal fiber

Optical coherence tomography （OCT） with ultrahigh axial resolution was achieved by the super-continuum generated by coupling femtosecond pulses from a commercial Ti：sapphire laser into an air-silica microstructure fiber. The visible spectrum of the super-continuum from 450 to 700 nm centered at 540 nm can be generated. A free-space axial OCT resolution of 0.64 pm was achieved. The sensitivity of OCT system was 108 dB with incident light power 3 mW at sample, only 7dB below the theoretical limit. Subcellular OCT imaging was also demonstrated, showing great potential for biomedical application.     

Decay of geometry for unimodal maps: The C2 case

We prove that a C2 unimodal interval map with critical order not greater than 2 has the decay of geometry property, by showing that all the cross-ratio estimates needed in the previous proof for the C3 case remain true.     

IL-8-induced L-selectin shedding regulates its binding kinetics to PSGL-1

L-selectin plays a crucial role in inflammation cascade by initiating the tethering and rolling of leukocytes on endothelium wall. While many L-selectin molecules are rapidly shed from the cell surface upon activation, the remaining membrane-anchored L-selectin may still play an important role in regulating leukocyte rolling and adhesion with different binding kinetics. Here we developed an in vitro model to activate Jurkat cells via interlukin-8 （IL-8） and quantified the two-dimensional （2D） binding kinetics, using a micropipette aspiration assay, of membrane-anchored L-selectin to P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 （PSGL-1） ligand coupled onto human red blood cells （RBCs）. The data indicated that L-selectin shedding reduced the amount of membrane-anchored L-selectin and lowered both its reverse and forward rates. These results suggested that the rolling dynamics of activated leukocytes was determined by two opposite impacts： reducing the surface presentation would enhance the rolling but lowering the kinetic rates would decrease the rolling. This finding provides a new insight into understanding how L-selectin shedding regulates leukocyte rolling and adhesion.     

Combining docking and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis （COMSIA） to predict estrogen activity and probe molecular mechanisms of estrogen activity for estrogen compounds

Estrogen compounds are suspected of disrupting endocrine functions by mimicking natural hormones, and such compounds may pose a serious threat to the health of humans and wildlife. Close attention has been paid to the prediction and molecular mechanisms of estrogen activity for estrogen com- pounds. In this article, estrogen receptor a subtype （ERa） -based comparative molecular similarity indices analysis （COMSIA） was performed on 44 estrogen compounds with structural diversity to find out the structural relationship with the activity and to predict the activity. The model with the significant correlation and the best predictive power （R^2= 0.965, Q^2 LOO： 0.599, R^2 pred ： 0.825） was achieved. The COMSIA and docking results revealed the structural features for estrogen activity and key amino acid residues in binding pocket, and provided an insight into the interaction between the ligands and these amino acid residues.     

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of the Jinbaoshan ultramafic intrusion, Yunnan Province, SW China

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating gives ages of 260.6± 3.5 Ma and 260.7± 5.6 Ma for serpentinised wehrlite and plag-hornblendite in the Jinbaoshan ultramafic intrusion, respectively. The results indicate that the Jinbaoshan intrusion was emplaced at ca.260 Ma and contemporaneous with the Emeishan continental flood basalts (ECFB), similar to other mafic-ultramafic intrusions of the Emeishan large igneous province (LIP). The new ages provide a geochronological constraint on the origin of the Jinbaoshan ultramafic intrusion. It confirms that the Jinbaoshan ultramafic intrusion belongs to the Emeishan LIP that formed at ca. 260 Ma. Supported by Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX2-YW-111), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40573020 and 40773033) and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB411408)     

Temperature-sensitive gold-nanotube array membranes modified with poly（N-isopropylacrylamide）

A kind of temperature-sensitive nanotube array membrane was developed by modifying gold-nanotube array membranes with poly（N-isopropylacrylamide） （PNIPAm）. The permeation ability of the mem-branes at different temperatures was investigated using sodium fluorescein and quantum dots as probes. The results showed that the pore diameter of nanotube was changed due to the reversible response of PNIPAm-modified membranes to temperature, and then the permeation ability of the mem-branes was changed. The permeation of fluorescence probes was slow and even almost blocked at 25℃ （below the lower critical solution temperature, LCST）, since PNIPAm formed expanded structures and decreased the pore size. While at 40℃ （above the LCST）, the permeation was increased, since PNIPAm became compact structures and the pore diameter was increased. Furthermore, the permeation ability of the temperature-sensitive nanotube array membranes could be adjusted reversibly and it is possible to use the membranes in nanofluidic devices, nanogates, etc.     

Fabrication of metal nanoclusters on graphene grown on Ru（0001 ）

Monolayer graphene was epitaxially grown on Ru（0001） through exposure of the Ru（0001） to ethylene at room temperature followed by annealing in ultrahigh vacuum at elevated temperatures. The resulting graphene structures were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy （STM）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy （UPS）. The graphene/Ru（0001） surface was used as a periodic template for growth of metal nanoclusters. Highly dispersed Pt clusters with well controlled size and spatial distribution were fabricated on the surface.     

Arctic dipole anomaly and summer rainfall in Northeast China

A dipole structure anomaly in summer Arctic atmospheric variability is identified in this study, which is characterized by the second mode of empirical orthogonal function （EOF） analysis of summer monthly mean sea level pressure （SLP） north of 70°N, accounting for 12.94% of the variance. The dipole anomaly shows a quasi-barotropic structure with opposite anomalous centers over the Canadian Arctic and the Beaufort Sea and between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. The dipole anomaly reflects alternating variations in location of the polar vortex between the western and eastern Arctic regions. The positive phase of the dipole anomaly corresponds to the center of the polar vortex over the western Arctic, leading to an increase in summer mean rainfall in Northeast China. The dipole anomaly has a predominant 6-year periodicity, and shows interdecadal variations in recent decades.     

Detection of infrared photons with a superconductor

A superconductor single photon detector based on NbN nanowire was fabricated using electron beam lithography （EBL） and reactive ion etching （RIE） for infrared photon detection. When biased well below its critical current at 4.2 K, NbN nanowire is very sensitive to the incident photons. Typical telecommunication photons with a wavelength of 1550 nm were detected by this detector. Data analysis indicates the repeating rate of the device with 200 nm NbN nanowire may be up to 100 MHz, and the quantum efficiency is about 0,01% when biased at 0.95/c.     

Genome-wide distribution of histone H3 acetylation in all- trans retinoic acid induced neuronal differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells

With chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and promoter DNA microarray analyses (ChIP-on-chip), we analyzed the variations of acetylation on histone H3 in all-trans retinoic acid (RA) induced neuronal cell differentiation. Neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were treated with RA for 24 h and the acetylation on histone H3 in the promoter region of the genes was detected. Results showed that, after treatment, the level of acetylation on histone H3 elevated in 597 genes in the genome, and reduced in the other 647 genes compared with those of the control. In summary, we have successfully adopted a high throughput technique to detect and analyze variations of acetylation of histone H3 in human genome at the early phage of RA induced neuronal differentiation of the SH-SY5Y cells. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 90408007 and 30721063) and National Key Basic Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB518605)     

Synthesis and characterization of BiFeO3 nanotube arrays and Y-junction BiFeO3 nanotubes

Multiferroic BiFeO₃ (BFO) nanotube arrays (∼100 nm in diameter and ∼50 μm in length) were synthesized by the sol-gel method utilizing the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane technique. The microstructure and chemical components of the BFO nanotubes were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). The BFO nanotubes exhibited polycrystalline microstructures. The novel Y-junction BFO nanotubes were simultaneously fabricated. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90306010), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant No. NCET-04-0653) and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB616911)     

Records of volcanic events since AD 1800 in the East Rongbuk ice core from Mt. Qomolangma

Continuous Bi profile of the East Rongbuk (ER) ice core near Mt. Qomolangma reveals nine major volcanic events since AD 1800. Compared with Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), it shows that the concentrations of Bi in the ER ice core can reflect the major volcanic events within the key areas. This provides a good horizon layer for ice core dating, as well as a basis for reconstructing a long sequence of volcanic records from the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau ice cores. Supported jointly by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB411501), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90411003), Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX3-SW-344) and Hundred Talents Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences     

Novel protein detection method based on proximity-dependent polymerase reaction and aptamers

In recent years, specific detection of proteins is one of the hot issues about aptamers in proteomics. Here we reported a simple, sensitive and specific proximity-dependent protein assay with dual DNA aptamers. Thrombin was used as the model protein, and two aptamer probes with complementary sequence at 3′-end were designed for the two distinct epitopes of the protein. Association of the two aptamers with thrombin resulted in stable hybrids due to the proximity of 3′-end, then polymerase reaction was induced. The amount of obtained dsDNA was indicated using the fluorescence dye Sybr Green I. The results showed that the initial velocity of polymerase reaction had a positive correlation with concentration of thrombin. The advantages of this dual-aptamer-based approach included simple and flexible design of aptamer probes, high selectivity and high sensitivity. The detection limit was 6.9 pmol/L.     

On the origin of dissimilar pore evolution on patterned and unpatterned (100) n-type silicon

Via systematic investigation of the anodization of both patterned and unpatterned specimens, phenomena of pronounced discrepancy with respect to pore size, pore density and pore etch-rate were evidenced. Based on the detailed analysis of scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs and current-voltage curves, the competition between physical and chemical elements was found to be crucial to understanding the observations. The results indicate that the size, density and growth-speed of pores may act as an evident function of the initial morphology of the sample surface, despite a nearly fixed width of the space charge region. Electric-field effect as well as current-burst-model (CBM) was employed to interpret the underlying mechanism. Supported by the Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2006AA04Z312) and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB300403)     

One-way quantum identity authentication based on public key

Based on public key, a quantum identity authenticated （QIA） system is proposed without quantum entanglement. The public key acts as the authentication key of a user. Following the idea of the classical public key infrastructure （PKI）, a trusted center of authentication （CA） is involved. The user selects a public key randomly and CA generates a private key for the user according to his public key. When it is necessary to perform QIA, the user sends a sequence of single photons encoded with its private key and a message to CA. According to the corresponding secret key kept by CA, CA performs the unitary operations on the single photon sequence. At last, the receiver can judge whether the user is an impersonator.