Effects of carbon diffusing field in alloy solvent on the growth of tower-shape diamond single crystal

High-quality type-Ib tower-shape diamond single crystals were synthesized in cubic anvil high pressure apparatus (SPD-6×1200) at 5.4 GPa and 1250-1450°C. The (100) face of seed crystal was used as the growth face, and FeNiMnCo alloy was used as the solvent/catalyst. Two kinds of carbon diffusing fields (type-B and type-G) were simulated by finite element method (FEM). Using the two kinds of carbon diffusing fields, many diamond single crystals were synthesized. The effects of carbon diffusing fields on the ...     

Triphenyltin inhibition of the proteasome activity and its influence on substrate protein levels in nerve cells

Triphenyltin (TPT) widely exists as environmental pollutant, but its toxicity towards nerve cells and the related mechanism remain unclear. In this research, SHSY-5Y cells were exposed to TPT, and the cellular proteasome activity, Iκb proteins, Bax and α-synuclein levels were investigated. The results show that TPT can inhibit the cellular proteasome activity, and result in the accumulation of ubiquitinized proteins. TPT exposure can change the protein levels of IκB, Bax, and α-synuclein, affect NFκB pathwa...     

Effect of hydrogen donating ability of benzofuranone on the antioxidant activity

The rate constants for the hydrogen donation of three 3-aryl-benzofuranone compounds with tert-butoxyl radicals have been cal-culated through laser flash photolysis (LFP) technique, which were used to evaluate the hydrogen donating abilities of those 3-aryl-benzofuranone compounds. The antioxidant activities of those 3-aryl-benzofuranone compounds in polypropylene (PP) have been studied using the oxidation induction time (OIT) of PP stabilized by those 3-aryl-benzofuranone compounds too. It has been found t...     

Astronomically modulated late Pliocene equatorial Pacific climate transition and Northern Hemisphere ice sheet expansion

The equatorial Pacific underwent a significant climate transition during the late Pliocene, which is characterized by cooling of global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and formation of a marked SST gradient between the eastern and western equatorial Pacific. Moreover, this transition was nearly synchronous with the late Pliocene Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Probing the relationship among solar insolation, low and high latitude processes is the key to unravel the mechanism of this climate transition. A se...     

S-wave velocity of the crust around Tianshan Mountains inverted from seismic ambient noise tomography

We process ambient noise data from seismic stations deployed in central Asia to determine the crustal shear wave velocity structure beneath the Tianshan Mountians and surrounding area. About 748 inter-station Rayleigh wave empirical Green’s functions have been recovered to estimate the phase velocity dispersions over periods from 6 to 50 s using the image transformation technique. Results show that for short periods (6–20 s), the distribution of Rayleigh wave phase velocities is generally consistent with surface geology, with high velocities corresponding to mountain ranges and low velocities to sedimentary basins. Along two profiles, which trend from NE-SW and NW-SE, the shear wave velocity shows a pair of high velocity anomalies dipping in opposite directions beneath the Tianshan Mountains. At shallow depths, those high velocity anomalies roughly correlate with areas where the mountain front and the surrounding basin are connected. The profiles also show a narrow zone beneath the Tianshan Mountains, which may represent a route for the upwelling from upper mantle. Those observations suggest that the underthrusting of the Tarim Basin and Kazakh Shield combine with the weakness of the crust, which is heated by the upwelling from upper mantle, may play an important role on the reactivation of the Tianshan Mountains associated with the India-Eurasia collision.     

Fluid/melt inclusions in Cenozoic mantle xenoliths from Linqu,Shandong Province,eastern China: Implications for asthenosphere-lithosphere interactions

Fluid and melt inclusions in mantle xenoliths are thought as direct samples to study mantle liquids. Here we apply Raman mi- crospectroscopy and microthermometry to fluid/melt inclusions in lherzolite xenoliths in Qiaoshan basalts, a Miocene volcano in Linqu, Shandong Province, eastern China. These inclusions include (1) early CO2 fluid inclusions, (2) early carbonate melt inclu-sions, (3) late CO2 fluid inclusions, and (4) late silicate melt inclusions. Among the early CO2 fluid inclusions, most consist of...     

Reply to the comment of Cheng et al.

We thank Cheng et al. for their interest in our paper “On linking climate to Chinese dynastic change: Spatial and temporal variations of of monsoonal rain” [1]. Our paper was written largely as a response to the suggestion made by Zhang P Z, et al. [2] that climate has a key role in affecting chapters of Chinese cultural history (e.g. the demise of the Tang, Yuan and Ming dynasties).
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Application of Raman spectroscopy in carbon nanotube-based polymer composites

Raman spectroscopy has been widely used to identify the physical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and to assess their func-tionalization as well as orientation. Recently, Raman spectroscopy has become a powerful tool to characterize the interfacial properties between CNTs and polymer matrices. This review provides an overview of micro-Raman spectroscopy of CNTs and its application in studying CNT reinforced polymer composites. Based on the specific Raman band shifts relating to the mechanical deformation of CNTs, Raman scattering can be used to evaluate the interactions between the CNTs and the surrounding polymer in the composites, and to detect the phase transitions of the polymer, and investigate the local stress state as well as the Young’s modulus of the CNTs. Moreover, we also review the current progress of Raman spectroscopy in various CNT macroarchitectures (such as films, fibers as well as composite fibers). The microscale structural deformation of CNT macroarchitectures and strain transfer factors from macroscale architectures to microscale structures are inferred. Based on an in situ Raman-tensile test, we further predict the Young’s modulus of the CNT macroarchitectures and reveal the dominating factors affecting the mechanical performances of the CNT macroarchitectures     

New constructions of identity-based threshold decryption

In this paper, based on the verifiable pair and identity-based threshold cryptography, a novel identity-based (ID-based) threshold decryption scheme (IDTDS) is proposed, which is provably secure against adaptive chosen ciphertext attack under the computational bilinear Diffie-Hellman (CBDH) problem assumption in the random oracle. The pubic checkability of ciphertext in the IDTDS is given by simply creating a signed ElGamal encryption instead of a noninteractive zero-knowledge proof. Furthermore, we introduce a modified verifiable pairing to ensure all decryption shares are consistent. Our scheme is more efficient in verification than the schemes considered previously.     

Molecular docking and spectroscopic methods to probe the interaction of acetylgliotoxin and HSA

The interaction between acetylgliotoxin and human serum albumin (HSA) has been studied by spectroscopic method. Acetylgliotoxin quenches the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA in a static quenching procedure. The binding of acetylgliotoxin to HSA causes a slight conformational change of HSA. The binding constants at different temperatures as well as enthalpy change and entropy change, are calculated according to relevant fluorescent data and Van’t Hoff equation. The hydrogen bond is a predominant intermolecular force for stabilizing the complex, which is in conformity with the results of molecular modeling study.