The central dusty torus in the active nucleus of NGC 1068

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) display many energetic phenomena--broad emission lines, X-rays, relativistic jets, radio lobes--originating from matter falling onto a supermassive black hole. It is widely accepted that orientation effects play a major role in explaining the observational appearance of AGNs. Seen from certain directions, circum-nuclear dust clouds would block our view of the central powerhouse. Indirect evidence suggests that the dust clouds form a parsec-sized torus-shaped distribution. This explanation, however, remains unproved, as even the largest telescopes have not been able to resolve the dust structures. Here we report interferometric mid-infrared observations that spatially resolve these structures in the galaxy NGC 1068. The observations reveal warm (320 K) dust in a structure 2.1 parsec thick and 3.4 parsec in diameter, surrounding a smaller hot structure. As such a configuration of dust clouds would collapse in a time much shorter than the active phase of the AGN, this observation requires a continual input of kinetic energy to the cloud system from a source coexistent with the AGN.     

Genesis of zircon and its constraints on interpretation of U-Pb age

Zircon U-Pb dating is the most commonly used method for isotopic geochronology. However, it has been a difficult issue when relating zircon U-Pb ages to metamorphic conditions in complex metamorphic rocks. Much progress has been made in the past decade with respect to the genesis of zircon and its constraints on interpretation of U-Pb age. Three methods have been proposed to link zircon U-Pb age to metamorphic conditions: ( i ) internal structure; ( ii ) trace element feature; (iii) mineral inclusion composition. Magmatic zircon shows typical oscillatory zoning and/or sector zoning, whereas metamorphic zircon has internal structures such as no zoned, weakly zoned, cloudy zoned, sector zoned, planar zoned, and patched zoned ones. Zircons formed in different geological environments generally have characteristic internal structures. Magmatic zircons from different rock types have variable trace element abundances, with a general trend of increasing trace element abundances in zircons from ultramafic through mafic to granitic rocks. Zircons formed under different metamorphic conditions have different trace element characteristics that can be used to relate their formation to metamorphic conditions. It is an effective way to relate zircon growth to certain P-T conditions by studying the trace element partitioning between coexisting metamorphic zircon and garnet in high-grade metamorphic rocks containing both zircon and garnet. Primary mineral inclusions in zircon can also provide unambiguous constraints on its formation conditions. Therefore, interpretation of zircon U-Pb ages can be constrained by its internal structure, trace element composition, mineral inclusion and so on.     

Immunogenicity of recombinant fowl-pox virus co-expressing structural protein precursor P1-2A and proteinase 3C of FMDV

Two recombinant plasmids, pUTA2P1 and pUTAL3CP1, were constructed by inserting structural protein precursor P1-2A and proteinase 3C of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) into fowl-pox virus (FPV) recombinant vectors pUTA-2 and pUTA-16-LacZ respectively, and two recombinant FPVs (vUTA2P1 and vUTAL3CP1) screened by the RT-PCR, IFA assay and Western blotting assay were obtained successfully. Mice injected respectively with rFPVs were induced high level specific anti-FMDV antibodies, increasing of T subtypes, and higher cytotoxicities of splenocytes than those of control groups. These results indicated that a new method was used to construct a potential candidate vaccine of FMDV.     

AC2 and AC4 proteins of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tobacco curly shoot virus</Emphasis> mediate suppression of RNA silencing

Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus Y10 isolate (TYLCCNV-Y10) alone could systemically infect host plants such as Nicotiana benthamiana without symptoms. In contrast, Tobacco curly shoot virus Y35 isolate (TbCSV-Y35) alone induces leaf curl symptoms in N. benthamiana. When inoculated into transgenic N. benthamiana plants expressing GFP gene (line 16c), TYLCCNV-Y10 neither reverses the established GFP silencing nor blocks the onset of GFP silencing. In contrast, TbCSV-Y35 can partially reverse the established GFP silencing and block the onset of GFP silencing in new leaves. In the patch co-infiltration assays, the AC2 and AC4 proteins of TYLCCNV-Y10 and TbCSV-Y35 could suppress local GFP silencing and delay systemic GFP silencing, suggesting that they are suppressors of RNA silencing. Comparison of the accumulation levels of GFP mRNA in the co-infiltration patches showed that Y10 AC2 and Y35 AC2 proteins had similar efficiency for suppression of RNA silencing. However, Y35 AC4 protein functioned as a stronger suppressor of RNA silencing than Y10 AC4 protein. There-fore, the pathogenicity difference between TbCSV-Y35 and TYLCCNV-Y10 may be related to the functional difference in their AC4 proteins.     

Self-assembled structure of alkyloxy substituted benzoic acid methyl ester on HOPG：An STM study

Self-assembled structures of 3,4,5-tris-dodecy-loxy benzoic acid methyl ester (E12), 3,4,5-tris-tetradecy-loxy-benzoic acid methyl ester (E14) and their mixture (E12/E14) have been studied on HOPG by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Dimer-like patterns induced by dipole-dipole interaction are observed in E12 and E14 monolayers. The molecules form close-packed rows and interdigitate with the alkyl chains in adjacent molecules. The structural differences are proposed to be from the different length of substituted alkyl chains. Owing to similar adsorption energy, phase separation is observed in the E12 and E14 mixed adlayer with different domains.     

Special IR properties of palladium nanoparticles and their aggregations in CO molecular probe infrared spectroscopy

Dispersed Pd nanoparticles (Pdn) have been synthesized by reducing H2PdCI4 with ethanol, and stabilized using poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). The Pdn is applied to the glassy carbon substrate to form a thin film, and then the potential cyclic scanning at 50 mV.s^-1 from -0.25 to 1.25 V was carried out for about 30 min to form the aggregations of Pdn (Pdn^ag). FTIR spectroscopy of both transmission and reflection modes was employed to study CO adsorption on Pdn and Pdn^ag in both solidlliquid and solidlgas interfaces. It has been revealed that CO adsorption on Pdn film yields two IRbands near 1964 and 1906 cm-1, which are assigned to IR absorption of CO bonded on asymmetric and symmetric bridge sites, respectively. In contrast to the IR properties of CO adsorbed on Pdn, only species of CO bonded on asymmetric bridge sites was determined on Pdn^ag, and the direction of the IR band near 1963 cm^-1 is completely inverted. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the COB^as band near 1964 cm^-1 is measured to be 14 cm^-1 on Pdn film, while it is 24 cm^-1 on Pdn^ag film. The results of the present study demonstrated that the inverting of the IR band direction is a general phenomenon that is closely related to the interaction between nanoparticles in aggregation of Pdn.     

Effective stress law for anisotropic double porous media

An effective stress law is derived analytically to describe the effect of pore (fracture pore and matrix-block pore) fluid pressure on the linearly elastic response of anisotropic saturated dual-porous rocks, which exhibit anisotropy. For general anisotropy the difference between the effective stress and the applied stress is not hydrostatic simply multiplied by Biot coefficient. The effective stress law involves four constants for transversely isotropic response;these constants can be expressed in terms of the moduli of the single porous material, double porous material and of the solid material. These expressions are simplified considerably when the anisotropy is structural rather than intrinsic, i.e. in the case of an isotropic solid material with an anisotropic pore structure. In this case the effective stress law involves grain bulk modulus, four moduli and two compliances of the porous material for transverse isotropy. The law reduces, in the case of isotropic response, to that suggested by Li Shuiquan (2001). And reduction to the single-porosity (derived analytically by Carroll (1979)) is presented to demonstrate the conceptual consistency of the proposed law.     

Relationship between Earth-Sun-Moon 1000 Ma ago： Evidence from the stromatolites

Stromatolitesareusuallyinterpretedastheorgano-sedimentarystructurescausedbythegrowthandmetabo-lismofmicro-organisms,principallycyanobacteriaandprecipitatedmineralgrainstrappedtothestickylay-ers[1—5].Asthesunlightisstrongindaytime,thealgaefila-mentsshowstrongactivityinphotosynthesisandgrowtowardsunlight.Ontheotherhand,asthesunlightisweakatnight,thealgaefilamentsshowinactivityinphotosyn-thesisandgrowhorizontally.Duringthecourseofgrowth,thealgaewillproducesomeglutinoussecretionwhichcancatchsedim…     

The model of defense gene expression induced by signaling molecule β-ocimene

β-ocimene, a kind of monoterpene, was found recently as a plant communication signal molecule. It has two isomeric forms in nature: cis-β-ocimene and trans-β-ocimene. According to recent reports, all investigated plants, such as corn, cotton, lima bean, potato, tobacco, arabidopsis, and Mediterranean pine, could release the chemical component β-ocimene after fed by arthropod herbivores,