Stress corrosion cracking and its anisotropy of a PZT ferroelectric ceramics

It is known that some types of ceramics, like Al2O3 and ZrO2, undergo stress corrosion cracking (SCC) or static fatigue fracture under static loading, ever in a rela-tively mild environment, such as moist atmosphere or water at room temperature, which leads to a time-dependent fracture[1—4]. For a transmission electron microscopy specimen of YBa2Cu3O7-x ceramics superconductor, SCC induced by residual stress can occur in an atmosphere with low moisture content[5]. For a lead zirconate ti…     

Do multiple cycles of aeolian deposit-pedogenesis exist in the reticulate red clay sections in southern China?

Since the Quaternary scientists successfully dis-closed the paleoclimatic significance of the loess-paleo- sol sequence in the Loess Plateau, Northwest China, the loess-paleosol sequence has become well-known terres-trial materials revealing the multiple cyclic changes of Quaternary climates. As a carrier of paleoenvironmental information, it could compare beauty with the deep ocean deposit[8]. In recent years, however, the researchers began to put their sights to southern China. They try t…     

The age of formation of the mirabilite and sand wedges in the Hexi Corridor and their paleoclimatic interpretation

The Hexi Corridor is located at the transition zone of the Asian summer monsoon and westerly airflow, and lies in an important position in terms of its ecological fragility and climatic sensitivity. During a recent field expedition to this region, we found a sedimentary mirabilite layer in a number of localities including Suwushan, Yanchi, Baitujing, Yanchi Gaotai, Huahai, Yumen, Halanuo扙r, and Dunhuang (Fig. 1), which have the potential to provide important information about environmenta…     

Temperature variations on the Tibetan Plateau over the last two millennia

The paleoclimate data recovered from ice cores,tree rings and lake sediments indicate regional features of cfimatic change on the Tibeta n Plateau (TP) during the last 2000 years. The composite temperature reconstructions in-dicate that several main climatic episodes, such as the “LittleIce Age“ between 1400 and 1900, the “Medieval Warm Pe-riod“ in 1150-1400, a less warm period in 800-1100, and an earlier cold period between the 3rd and 5th centuries,occurred in the TP. In addition, temperature varied from region to region. The period from AD 800 to 1100, which waswarm in northeastern TP, was contemporaneous with cool-ing in the western and southern TP. The southern TP ex-perienced warming between 1150 and 1400. For western TP,the δ^18O records of the Guliya ice core indicate that the pe-Hod 1250-1500 witnessed a clear warming. Large-scaletrends in the temperature history from northeastern TP aremore similar to those in eastern China than are the trendsfrom the Guliya ice cap far to the west and southern TP. The most prominent similarities between the temperature varia-tions of the TP and eastern China are such cold phases as 1100-1150, 1500-1550, 1650-1700 and 1800-1850, andthe latter three cold events match with three widespreadg lacial advances which occurred on the TP during the Little Ice A2e.     

Time-division phase modulated single-photon interference in a Sagnac interferometer

We introduce a stable, long-distance singlephoton Sagnac interferometer, which has a balanced configuration to efficiently compensate phase drift caused by change of the fiber-optic path. By using time-division phase modulation, single-photon interference was realized at 1550nm in a 5-km-long as well as 27-km-long Sagnac fiber loops,with a fringe visibility higher than 90% and long-term stability. The stable performance of the single-photon interference indicated that the time-division phase-modulated Sagnac interferometer might readily lead to practical applications in single-photon routing and quantum cryptography.     

Expression of human clotting factor Ⅸ mediated by recom- binant lentiviral vector in cultured cells and hemophilia B mice

To explore the expression of human clotting factor Ⅸ (hFⅨ) cDNA in vitro and the feasibility of gene therapy for hemophilia B mice mediated by recombinant lentiviral vector, a recombinant hFⅨ lentiviral vector driven by ubiquitin-C promoter, FUXW, and by ABP liver specific promoter, FAXW, was constructed respectively. Recombinant lentivirus was harvested from 293T cells by calcium phosphate-mediated transient cotransfection of three plasmids (transgene vector, CMV腞8.2, VSV-G). hFⅨ expression was detected in supernatant of 293T, BHK and L-02 cells infected with FUXW virus, whereas higher expression of hFⅨ levels (630 ng/106 cells/48 h) was detected only in L-02 cells infected with FAXW virus. Serum hFⅨ antigen was detected in all hemophilia B mice treated with FAXW virus by tail vein injection, an efficiency level of hFⅨ was observed (45 ng/mL, approximately 1% of normal human levels), the expression lasted for more than 60 d. The results indicated that HIV-based lentiviral vectors offer a promising approach to the gene therapy of hemophilia B.     

NPP distribution related to the terrains along the North-South Transect of Eastern China

Vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) is defined as the accumulative amount of organic matters per unit area and time, which is calculated from the difference between accumulative photosynthesis and accumulative autotrophic respiration by green plants. Since the NPP reflects the physiological and ecological characteristics of the plants and the interactive results of the environmental factors, it is an important index to evaluate a structure of ecological system, functional features and …     

RNA interference-mediated inhibition of Hepatitis B Virus replication

Persistent and recurrent infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) represents one of the most common and severe viral infections of humans, and has caused a formidable health problem in the affected countries. Currently used antiviral drugs have a very limited success on controlling HBV replication and infection. RNA interference (RNAi), a process by which double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) directs sequence-specific degradation of target mRNA in mammalian and plant cells, has recently been used to knockdown gene expression in various species. In this study, we sought to determine whether RNAi-mediated silencing of HBV viral gene expression could lead to the effective inhibition of HBV replication. We first developed RNAi vectors that expressed small interfering RNA (siRNA) and targeted the HBV core or surface gene sequence. Our results demonstrated that these specific siRNAs efficiently reduced the levels of corresponding viral RNAs and proteins, and thus suppressed viral replication. Treatment with siRNA gave the greatest reduction in the levels of HBsAg (92%) and in HBeAg (85%) respectively in the cultured cell medium. Our findings further demonstrated that the RNAi-mediated antiviral effect was sequence-specific and dose-dependent. Therefore, our findings strongly suggest that RNAi-mediated silencing of HBV viral genes could effectively inhibit the replication of HBV, hence RNAi-based strategy should be further explored as a more efficacious antiviral therapy of HBV infection.     

A HEURISTIC PATH-PLANNING METHOD FOR ENHANCING MACHINE-TOOL CONTOUR-FOLLOWING

Nomenclature ki integral action coefficient[s-1]kp speed proportional gain[s-1]kv position proportional gain[s-1]kf feed forward factor of the speed loop[%]M axis mass[kg]V speed[m/s]F driving effort[N]Rc radius of curvature[m]d distance to the apex[m]o lateral offset[m]εcontouring error[m]ωm lowest mechanical resonant frequency[s-1]ζdamping coefficient[-]r inertia ratio[-]μmembership function[-]αcorner angle[rad]x,y horizontal and vertical coordinates[m]?angle to the normal line[rad]1.I…