Electrochemical behavior of different shelled microcapsule composite copper coatings

Copper/liquid microcapsule composite coatings with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), gelatin or methyl cellulose (MC) as shell materials were prepared by electrodeposition. The influence of shell materials on the corrosion resistance of the composite coatings in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ was investigated by means of electrochemical techniques, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersion spectrometry (EDS). The results show that the participation of microcapsules can enhance the corrosion resistance of the composite coatings compared with the traditional copper layer. Based on the analysis of electrochemical test results, the release ways of microcapsules were deduced. Gelatin and MC as the shell materials of microcapsules are easy to release quickly in the composite coating. On the contrary, the releasing speed of PVA microcapsules is relatively slow due to their characteristics.     

断层相互作用产生同震库仑应力改变分布图像

讨论了同震库仑应力改变的基本含义,以及基于静应力位错理论求解同震库仑应力改变的边界元方法,对与发震断层相互平行和相互垂直两种典型构造模式下,断层相互作用产生的同震库仑应力改变进行了数值模拟研究,分别获取了相应条件下的同震库仑应力改变空间分布图像.结果表明:不同构造模式的断层相互作用,其产生的同震库仑应力改变分布图像存在较大差异,在分析和评价断层相互作用产生的同震库仑应力改变,及其对活动断层地震危险性的影响时,应该充分考虑待评价断层与发震断层之间的空间几何关系、断层的性质和产状等特定的构造条件.     

Constant darkness is a circadian metabolic signal in mammals

Environmental light is the 'zeitgeber' (time-giver) of circadian behaviour. Constant darkness is considered a 'free-running' circadian state. Mammals encounter constant darkness during hibernation. Ablation of the master clock synchronizer, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, abolishes torpor, a hibernation-like state, implicating the circadian clock in this phenomenon. Here we report a mechanism by which constant darkness regulates the gene expression of fat catabolic enzymes in mice. Genes for murine procolipase (mClps) and pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 (mPlrp2) are activated in a circadian manner in peripheral organs during 12 h dark:12 h dark (DD) but not light-dark (LD) cycles. This mechanism is deregulated in circadian-deficient mPer1-/-/mPer2m/m mice. We identified circadian-regulated 5'-AMP, which is elevated in the blood of DD mice, as a key mediator of this response. Synthetic 5'-AMP induced torpor and mClps expression in LD animals. Torpor induced by metabolic stress was associated with elevated 5'-AMP levels in DD mice. Levels of glucose and non-esterified fatty acid in the blood are reversed in DD and LD mice. Induction of mClps expression by 5'-AMP in LD mice was reciprocally linked to blood glucose levels. Our findings uncover a circadian metabolic rhythm in mammals.     

Zircon U-Pb geochronology of basement metamorphic rocks in the Songliao Basin

Zircon LA-ICP MS U-Pb dating of six metamorphic rocks and a metagranite (breccia) from southern basement of the Songliao Basin are reported in order to constrain the formation ages of basement. The basement metamorphic rocks in the Songliao Basin mainly consist of metagabbro (L45-1), amphibolite (SN117), metarhyolitical tuff (G190), sericite (Ser) schist (N103), chlorite (Chl) schist (T5-1), biotite (Bi)-actinolite (Act)-quartz (Q) schist (Y205), and metagranite (L44-1). The cathodoluminesence (CL) images of the zircons from metagabbro (L45-1) and metagranite (L44-1) indicate that they have cores of magmatic origin and rims of metamorphic overgrowths. Their U-Pb isotopic ages are 1808±21 Ma and 1873±13 Ma, respectively. The zircons with oscillatory zoning from amphibolite (SN117) and Chl schist (T5-1), being similar to those of mafic igneous rocks, yield ages of 274 ± 3.4 Ma and 264 ± 3.2 Ma, re-spectively. The zircons from metarhyolitical tuff (G190) and Ser schist (N103) display typical magmatic growth zoning and yield ages of 424 ± 4.5 Ma and 287 ± 5.1Ma, respectively. Most of zircons from Bi-Act-Q schist (Y205) are round in shape and different in absorption degree in the CL images, implying their sedimentary detritals. U-Pb dating yield concordant ages of 427 ± 3.1Ma, 455 ± 12 Ma, 696 ± 13 Ma, 1384±62 Ma, 1649±36 Ma, 1778±18 Ma, 2450±9 Ma, 2579±10 Ma, 2793±4 Ma and 2953±14 Ma. The above-mentioned results indicate that the Precambrian crystalline basement (1808―1873 Ma) exists in the southern Songliao Basin and could be related to tectonic thrust, and that the Early Paleozoic (424―490 Ma) and Late Paleozoic magmatisms (264―292 Ma) also occur in the basin basement, which are consistent with the ages of the detrital zircons from Bi-Act-Q schist in the basement.     

Vanadyl ions binding to GroEL （HSP60） and inducing its depolymerization

Several vanadium compounds have been known for the hypoglycemic and anticancer effects. However, the mechanisms of the pharmacological and toxicological effects were not clear. In this work, we in- vestigated the potential targets of vanadium in mitochondria. Vanadyl ions were found to bind to mi- tochondria from rat liver with a stoichiometry of 244±58 nmol/mg protein and an apparent dissocia- tion constant (Kd) of (2.0±0.8)×10·16 mol/L. Using size exclusion chromatography, a vanadium-binding protein was isolated and identified to be the 60-kDa heat shock protein (HSP60) by mass spectrometry analysis and immunoassays. Additionally, binding of vanadyl ions was found to result in depolymeri- zation of homo-oligomeric HSP60 (GroEL). HSP60 is an indispensable molecular chaperone and in- volved in many kinds of pathogenesis of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, e.g. type 1 diabetes. Our results suggested that HSP60 could be a novel important target involved in the biological and/or toxicological effects of vanadium compounds.     

Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property

Globally, soil organic matter (SOM) contains more than three times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or terrestrial vegetation. Yet it remains largely unknown why some SOM persists for millennia whereas other SOM decomposes readily--and this limits our ability to predict how soils will respond to climate change. Recent analytical and experimental advances have demonstrated that molecular structure alone does not control SOM stability: in fact, environmental and biological controls predominate. Here we propose ways to include this understanding in a new generation of experiments and soil carbon models, thereby improving predictions of the SOM response to global warming.     

Application of the modified neighborhood interference model to the cultivation of forest and herbaceous ecosystem

This paper is an extension of the application of neighborhood interference model--being modified--to the study of the interference between forest plants and herbaceous plants. The exploration of the neighborhood interference between triploid Populus tomentosa and Lolium multiflorum shows that the interference of Lolium multiflorum on triploid populus tomentosa is positive, with the primary interference factor living weight, and secondary factor cover degree; the growth of an individual tree is affected by the number, height, and coverage of the Lolium multiflorum; the more dense the coverage of the Lolium multiflorum in a certain area, the taller, faster and more trees will grow as a result of a greater positive neighborhood interference. The modified neighborhood interference model well serves as an effective approach to extend the application of neighborhood interference researches.     

A novel method for improving cerussite sulfidization

Evaluation of flotation behavior, solution measurements, and surface analyses were performed to investigate the effects of chloride ion addition on the sulfidization of cerussite in this study. Micro-flotation tests indicate that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization can significantly increase the flotation recovery of cerussite, which is attributed to the formation of more lead sulfide species on the mineral surface. Solution measurement results suggest that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization induces the transformation of more sulfide ions from pulp solution onto the mineral surface by the formation of more lead sulfide species. X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy indicate that more lead sulfide species form on the mineral surface when chloride ions are added prior to sulfidization. These results demonstrate that the addition of chloride ions prior to sulfidization can significantly improve the sulfidization of cerussite, thereby enhancing the flotation performance.     

Primary Sn-rich titianite in the Qitianling granite, Hunan Province, southern China: An important type of tin-bearing mineral and its implications for tin exploration

The Qitianling calc-alkaline granite in Hunan Province (South China) has attracted much attention since the discovery of the Furong super-large tin deposit. The present study provides new mineralogical data to address their implications for exploration of tin deposits. In the Taoxiwo granite in the southeastern part of the Qitianling granite body, Sn-rich titanite was identified as an important type of Sn-bearing mineral. The titanite commonly occurs with biotite as euhedral crystals, exhibiting typical envelope-like shape and sector-zoning texture. These indicate that the titanite most likely crystallized in the magmatic stage. Electron-microprobe analyses show that the titanite is enriched in tin up to 1.12 wt% SnO₂, with an average of 0.43 wt%. With the crystallization of the granite, primary minerals undertook hydrothermal alteration by magma-derived fluids. Subsequently, in the hydrothermal stage, the primary Sn-bearing titanite was altered (at least partially), but still preserved its typical envelope-shaped outline. Micro-scale cassiterite is a representative product of such alteration; other secondary minerals include fluorite, ilmenite, Sn-bearing rutile and quartz. Therefore, the titanite, commonly present in the calcalkaline granites, can be treated as an important Sn-carrying mineral in the Qitianling granite, reflecting the primary magmatic environment with tin enrichment. The hydrothermal alteration of the primary titanite and subsequent crystallization of cassiterite recorded a process of leaching and accumulation of tin in magmatic-hydrothermal evolution of the Sn-bearing granite. Thus, this titanite has important implications for tin exploration. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40730423 and 40221301) and Project of China Geological Survey (Grant No. 1212010632100)     

Development of a middle and low latitude theoretical ionospheric model and an observation system data assimilation experiment

On the basis of previous work, we develop a middle and low latitude theoretical ionospheric model in this paper, named Theoretical Ionospheric Model of the Earth in the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences （TIME-IGGCAS）. TIME-IGGCAS solves the equations of mass continuity, motion and energy of electron and ions self-consistently and uses an eccentric dipole field approximation to the Earth＇s magnetic field. We combine the Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches in the model and take account of the plasma ExB drift velocity. Calculation results reveal that the model is steady and credible and can reproduce most large-scale features of ionosphere. By using TIME-IGGCAS, we carried out an observation system data assimilation experiment. Assimilation results show that the ExB drift velocity can be accurately estimated by ingesting the observed foF2 and hmF2 into the model applying nonlinear least-square fit method. We suggest that this work is of great significance in the development of ionospheric data assimilation model to give better nowcast and forecast of ionosphere.