Advances in the hyperlens

As a superlens to overcome the well-known diffraction limit, the hyperlens has received much attention due to its super resolving power and magnifying capabilities. In this article, we review the recent developments, including theoretical and experimental studies on the hyperlens. We also discuss its limitations and potential.     

Qualitative and quantitative relationships between affinity constants from model study and real adsorption data

Linear polymers bearing the same functional groups as their corresponding adsorbents could be used as models to study the ad-sorption behaviors. However, the relationships between the data from model study and real adsorption have not been fully interpreted. In this work, three adsorbent (CP1-Zn²⁺, CP2-Zn²⁺ and CP3-Zn²⁺) and their corresponding linear models (P1-Zn²⁺, P2-Zn²⁺ and P3-Zn²⁺) were synthesized. The affinity constants (Ka) between these models and target peptide DFLAE (DE5) were obtained by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Adsorption capacities and adsorption affinities were carried out by static adsorption and adsorption isotherm. The qualitative and quantitative relationships between affinity constants from model study and the real ad-sorption data were explored. This study was significant to bridge the model study with the real adsorption.     

Geochemical characteristics of light hydrocarbons in natural gases from the Turpan-Hami Basin and identification of low-mature gas

Theoretical and practical knowledge regarding low-mature gasses is of significant importance to identifying potential natural gas resources. Light hydrocarbon parameters and C and H isotopes are useful tools to identify low-mature gas. Twenty gas samples were collected from the Turpan-Hami Basin for light hydrocarbon analyses. The results showed that the light hydrocarbon components of natural gases contain high methylcycloxane, high isoparaffin and low benzene. This implies that the gas-generating parent materials are of typical humus type and the paleoenvironment is a fresh water sedimentary environment. These features are consistent with the geological setting of the basin. Comparative studies of isoheptane, heptane, and the carbon isotopic compositions of methane in natural gases, and other maturity indices indicated that natural gases in the Turpan-Hami Basin are dominated by low-mature gas formed during the low evolution stage of Jurassic coal seams. The parent materials are of type III, and the maturation degree was in the low evolution stage. These are the fundamental characteristics of low-mature gas. Results of light hydrocarbon research provided further evidence to suggest that the Turpan-Hami Basin is a large-scale gas producer of low-mature gas in China. It is likely that this resource will play an important role in future exploration and development of low-mature gas in China.     

Electrical conductivity changes of bulk tin and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu in bulk and in joints during isothermal aging

The changes of electrical conductivity (resistance) between Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder joints and printed circuit board (PCB) assembly during aging at 125℃ were investigated by the four-point probe technique. The microstructural characterizations of interfacial layers between the solder matrix and the substrate were examined by optical microscopy and scanning electronic microscopy. Different types of specimens were designed to consider several factors. The experimental results indicate that electrical conductivities (resistances) and residual shear strengths of the solder joint specimens significantly decrease after 1000 h during isothermal aging. Microcracks generate in the solder matrix at the first 250 h. Besides, the evolutions of microstructural characterizations at the interface and the matrix of solder joints were noted in this research.     

Temperature-induced fractionation of oxygen isotopes of diatom frustules and growth water in Lake Sihailongwan in Northeast China

Diatom oxygen isotopes have been widely applied in quantitative reconstruction of the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment, but have rarely been reported in China. In the present study, Lake Sihailongwan in Northeast China was selected for detailed investigation of oxygen isotopic fractionation between diatom frustules and lake water induced by growth temperature. This study involved a 2-year period of field monitoring of the lake water temperature at multiple depths and biweekly collections of traps for both sediment and water at shallow and bottom depths (7 and 49 m below the lake surface, respectively), diatom separation and purification of the trap sediments, and oxygen isotope measurement for diatom silica and lake water samples. The conditioned experiment conducted herein demonstrated that the laboratory device, methods and techniques used in this study were capable of generating reliable data for the typical oxygen isotope composition of diatom frustules. The data obtained revealed a prominent linear relationship between the oxygen isotope composition of the modern diatom and lake temperature during growth. The fractionation coefficient was about −0.185‰/°C−0.238‰/°C in the temperature range of 3.6–24°C, which is consistent with the observations from various aquatic environments and laboratory culture with different diatom taxa. These findings provide strong support for the dominant control of the growth temperature on the oxygen isotope fractionation between the diatom frustules and ambient water. A notable difference in the fractionation coefficient was observed between the surface and bottom diatom oxygen isotopes, suggesting that various depositional processes and taphonomic effects influenced the surface and bottom trap samples. Another factor leading to this difference may be that enrichment by evaporation and dilution by rainfall have a stronger influence on the surface. Overall, the results presented here demonstrate significant progress in evaluation of diatom oxygen isotopes in China and draw attention to the differences between surface and bottom diatom oxygen isotope compositions.     

A new route of ferric ions rejection in a synthetic nickel leach solution

A new route of impurity rejection to remove ferric iron from a synthetic nickel leach solution was introduced, which simulated the chemical composition of a typical acid leach solution of nickel laterites under atmospheric pressure. The synthetic solution underwent a stepwise neutralization process, with each step adopting different pH value-temperature combinations. In a conventional nickel atmospheric leach (AL) process, the nickel loss could be as high as 10wt%, which was a longstanding issue and prevented this process from commercialization. The new impurity rejection route is the first step towards resolving this issue. The results show that, the best neutralization performance is achieved at the nickel loss of 3.4wt% in the neutralization scheme that employs ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as a nickel stabilizer (pH: 1.3–3.5; temperature: 95–70℃)     

A small difference in nuclear mass could make a big impact in the cosmos

In a recent paper [1] published in Physical Review Letters, scientists at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have reported their first results from the Cooler Storage Ring at the Heavy Ion Research Facility, a newly-constructed major scientific facility in Lanzhou, China. As a part of an international collaboration including colleagues from Europe, USA and Japan, they were able to identify in experiments the very     

Effects of historical land cover changes on climate

In order to explore the influence of anthropogenic land use on the climate system during the last mil- lennium, a set of experiments is performed with an Earth system model of intermediate complexity—— the McGill Paleoclimate Model (MPM-2). The present paper mainly focuses on biogeophysical effects of historical land cover changes. A dynamic scenario of deforestation is described based on changes in cropland fraction (RF99). The model simulates a decrease in global mean annual temperature in the range of 0.09-0.16℃, especially 0.14-0.22℃ in Northern Hemisphere during the last 300 years. The responses of climate system to GHGs concentration changes are also calculated for comparisons. Now, afforestation is becoming an important choice for the enhancement of terrestrial carbon sequestration and adjustment of regional climate. The results indicate that biogeophysical effects of land cover changes cannot be neglected in the assessments of climate change.     

Formation of ζ phase in Cu-Ge peritectic alloys

Rapid growth behavior of ζ phase has been investigated in the undercooling experiments of Cu-14%Ge, Cu-15%Ge, Cu-18.5%Ge and Cu-22%Ge alloys. Alloys of the four compositions obtain the maximum undercoolings of 202 K（0.17TL）, 245 K（0.20TL）, 223 K（0.20TL） and 176 K（0.17TL）, respectively. As the content of Ge increases, the microstructural transition of ＂a（Cu） dendrite ＋ ζ＂ peritectic phase → ζ＂ peritectic phase →, ζ dendrite ＋ （ε＋ζ） eutectic＂ takes place in the alloy at small undercooling, while the microstructural transition of ＂fragmented α （Cu）dendrite ＋ ζ peritectic phase →, ζ peritectic phase →ζ dendrite ＋ ε phase＂ happens in the alloy at large undercooling. EDS analysis of the Ge content in peritectic phase indicates that undercooling enlarges the solid solubility of ζ rdendrite, which leads to a decrease in the Ge content in ζ phase as undercooling increases. In the Cu-18.5%Ge alloy composed of ζ peritectic phase, the Ge content in ζ phase increases when undercooling increases, which is due to the restraint of the Ge enrichment on the grain boundaries by high undercooling effect.     

Scanning for sisnatures of geosraphically restricted selection based on population genomics analysis

Natural selection, as the driving force of human evolution, has direct impact on population differentiation. However, it is still unclear to what extent the genetic differentiation has been caused by natural selection. To explore this question, we performed a genome-wide scan with single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） data from the International HapMap Project. Single locus FsTanalysis was applied to assess the frequency difference among populations in autosomes. Based on the empirical distribution of FsT, we identified 12669 SNPs correlating to population differentiation and 1853 candidate genes subjected to geographic restricted natural selection. Further interpretation of gene ontogeny revealed 121 categories of biological process with the enrichments of candidate genes. Our results suggest that natural selection may play an important role in human population differentiation. In addition, our analysis provides new clues as well as research methods for our understanding of population differentiation and natural selection.