Abrupt onset of a second energy gap at the superconducting transition of underdoped Bi2212

The superconducting gap--an energy scale tied to the superconducting phenomena--opens on the Fermi surface at the superconducting transition temperature (T(c)) in conventional BCS superconductors. In underdoped high-T(c) superconducting copper oxides, a pseudogap (whose relation to the superconducting gap remains a mystery) develops well above T(c) (refs 1, 2). Whether the pseudogap is a distinct phenomenon or the incoherent continuation of the superconducting gap above T(c) is one of the central questions in high-T(c) research. Although some experimental evidence suggests that the two gaps are distinct, this issue is still under intense debate. A crucial piece of evidence to firmly establish this two-gap picture is still missing: a direct and unambiguous observation of a single-particle gap tied to the superconducting transition as function of temperature. Here we report the discovery of such an energy gap in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta in the momentum space region overlooked in previous measurements. Near the diagonal of Cu-O bond direction (nodal direction), we found a gap that opens at T(c) and has a canonical (BCS-like) temperature dependence accompanied by the appearance of the so-called Bogoliubov quasi-particles, a classical signature of superconductivity. This is in sharp contrast to the pseudogap near the Cu-O bond direction (antinodal region) measured in earlier experiments.     

Ecology: diversity and stability in plant communities

The relationship between species diversity and ecosystem stability is controversial. Tilman et al. analyse biomass patterns over a decade in a grassland experiment with artificial plant communities, and provide evidence for a positive relationship between the number of plant species and the temporal stability of the ecosystem. Here we use data from a long-term biodiversity experiment with plant communities that were not controlled by weeding in order to show that diverse systems can be both stable and unstable.     

Epithelial-cell-intrinsic IKK-beta expression regulates intestinal immune homeostasis

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) provide a primary physical barrier against commensal and pathogenic microorganisms in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but the influence of IECs on the development and regulation of immunity to infection is unknown. Here we show that IEC-intrinsic IkappaB kinase (IKK)-beta-dependent gene expression is a critical regulator of responses of dendritic cells and CD4+ T cells in the GI tract. Mice with an IEC-specific deletion of IKK-beta show a reduced expression of the epithelial-cell-restricted cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin in the intestine and, after infection with the gut-dwelling parasite Trichuris, fail to develop a pathogen-specific CD4+ T helper type 2 (T(H)2) response and are unable to eradicate infection. Further, these animals show exacerbated production of dendritic-cell-derived interleukin-12/23p40 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha, increased levels of CD4+ T-cell-derived interferon-gamma and interleukin-17, and develop severe intestinal inflammation. Blockade of proinflammatory cytokines during Trichuris infection ablates the requirement for IKK-beta in IECs to promote CD4+ T(H)2 cell-dependent immunity, identifying an essential function for IECs in tissue-specific conditioning of dendritic cells and limiting type 1 cytokine production in the GI tract. These results indicate that the balance of IKK-beta-dependent gene expression in the intestinal epithelium is crucial in intestinal immune homeostasis by promoting mucosal immunity and limiting chronic inflammation.     

Hydroxyl radical electrochemically generated with water as the complete atom source and its environmental application

The most reactive hydroxyl radical （OH） was generated by electrochemical approach with safe water as the complete atom source. The direct evidence for OH formation was obtained by electron spin resonance method. The powerful OH electrochemically generated could effectively degrade organic pollutants and reduce the toxicity of wastewater. Electrochemical disinfection by OH was considerably efficient even without the aid of active chlorine. Bacteria inactivation of 99.99% was achieved for contact time of 30 min and current density of 5 mA·cm^-2, In comparison with active chlorine, OH is rather attractive as a promising environmentally benign disinfectant and opens a new route for microbial inactivation.     

An improved traitor tracing scheme based on bilinear map

T6 et al presented a bilinear-map-based traitor tracing scheme（TSZ scheme） with revocation, but it is a symmetric scheme because it does not provide non-repudiation. In this paper, an improved TSZ scheme was proposed by using oblivious polynomial evaluation （OPE） protocol and service parameters. Under the recondition of general sameness capabilities of both TSZ and improved TSZ scheme, the new scheme adds some advantages such as providing multi-service capability, user＇s non-repudiation and data provider＇s no-framing innocent users. Furthermore, it is also proved to be semantically secure under the decisional bilinear Diffie-Hellman （DBDH problem） assumption.     

New crystal structure of molecular complex 1-piperidine carboxylate-piperidinium-H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O studied by X-ray single crystal diffraction

Piperidine absorbs CO2 and H2O in air to form a molecular complex： piperidium-l-piperidinecarboxylate-H2O. The structure of the complex was characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction. The crystal structure was determined to be triclinic, space group P1^-with a=0.648 6（8） nm, b=0.809 200） nm, c= 1.357 1（16） nm, a=96.96706）°, β =102.506（15）°,γ=104.202 05）°, Z=2. The complex is stabilized via five hydrogen bonds between the three components, N-O electrostatic interaction and O-O interaction （electron transfer） betweenl-piperidinecarboxylate and H2O. Due to electron transference of carbamate ion, the oxygen atom in water molecule is strongly negatively charged and the O-H bond is considerably shorter than that of the free molecule of water. The formation of the molecular complex is a reversible process and will decompose upon heating. The mechanism of formation and stabilization is further investigated herein.     

Erratum to: <Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> induction of mouse meningeal-derived iPS cells into neural-like cells

The authors report that incorrect figures were included as Figures 4 and 5 in the original publication of this paper. This error occurred during the figure editing process of the publishing company. This information should have been presented as follows:     

Serine/threonine protein phosphatases in DNA damage response

DNA damage response (DDR) is among the most important of the mechanisms that maintain genome stability which, when destabilized, predisposes organs to cancer. Reversible phosphorylation mediated by protein kinases and protein phosphatases regulates most, if not all, cellular activities, including DDR. Protein kinase inhibitors have become the main focus of targeted therapy and anticancer drug development. However, our limited knowledge of protein phosphatase function is compromising our capacity to develop therapeutic agents against phosphatases. In this review, we summarize the roles of serine/threonine protein phosphatases involved in DDR and propose that in situ dephosphorylation of phosphoproteins by protein phosphatases, instead of proteasome-mediated degradation of phosphoproteins, is mainly employed by cells.     

Aero-optical wavefront measurement technique based on BOS and its applications

A collimated light beam will be refracted if it propagates through a flow-field with index-of-refraction variations,and its wavefront will be distorted.If we measure the deflection angle of the light beam,the gradient of the wavefront can be obtained using the Malus law,and the wavefront aberration can be computed with a reconstruction algorithm.Two characteristics of background oriented schlieren(BOS) are conducive to wavefront aberration measurement:BOS can be used to measure the deflection angle of a light beam by measuring the displacement field between the reference image and the experiment image.Moreover,in a BOS system of Schlieren mode,only the ray perpendicular to the background image can be captured with a camera.This is helpful to measure wavefront aberrations that occur after a planar wavefront has passed through the flow-field.Based on these characteristics of BOS of Schlieren mode,a new wavefront measurement technique,which is called the BOS-based wavefront technique(BOS-WT),is proposed in this paper.It works by constructing the relationship between the displacement of the background image and the aero-optical wavefront gradient and uses the Southwell wavefront reconstruction algorithm.A BOS-WT system was assembled,and its temporal resolution was found to be 6 ns,and its temporal-correlation resolution reached 0.2 μs.A BOS-WT can measure the time-correlation transient wavefront quantitatively.It is simple and easy to operate.In this paper,we also present a study of the aero-optical performance of supersonic mixing layer based on our BOS-WT transient wavefronts at an interval of 5 μs.The results showed the wavefront was transient and distorted after it had passed through the mixing layer.Through the analysis of the data at the 5 μs interval,the temporal evolution of wavefront can be obtained.