On-chip natural assembly of silicon photonic bandgap crystals.

Photonic bandgap crystals can reflect light for any direction of propagation in specific wavelength ranges. This property, which can be used to confine, manipulate and guide photons, should allow the creation of all-optical integrated circuits. To achieve this goal, conventional semiconductor nanofabrication techniques have been adapted to make photonic crystals. A potentially simpler and cheaper approach for creating three-dimensional periodic structures is the natural assembly of colloidal microspheres. However, this approach yields irregular, polycrystalline photonic crystals that are difficult to incorporate into a device. More importantly, it leads to many structural defects that can destroy the photonic bandgap. Here we show that by assembling a thin layer of colloidal spheres on a silicon substrate, we can obtain planar, single-crystalline silicon photonic crystals that have defect densities sufficiently low that the bandgap survives. As expected from theory, we observe unity reflectance in two crystalline directions of our photonic crystals around a wavelength of 1.3 micrometres. We also show that additional fabrication steps, intentional doping and patterning, can be performed, so demonstrating the potential for specific device applications.     

Superconductivity in CaCuO2 as a result of field-effect doping.

Understanding the doping mechanisms in the simplest superconducting copper oxide-the infinite-layer compound ACuO2 (where A is an alkaline earth metal)-is an excellent way of investigating the pairing mechanism in high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors more generally. Gate-induced modulation of the carrier concentration to obtain superconductivity is a powerful means of achieving such understanding: it minimizes the effects of potential scattering by impurities, and of structural modifications arising from chemical dopants. Here we report the transport properties of thin films of the infinite-layer compound CaCuO2 using field-effect doping. At high hole- and electron-doping levels, superconductivity is induced in the nominally insulating material. Maximum values of Tc of 89 K and 34 K are observed respectively for hole- and electron-type doping of around 0.15 charge carriers per CuO2. We can explore the whole doping diagram of the CuO2 plane while changing only a single electric parameter, the gate voltage.     

Differentiated cells are more efficient than adult stem cells for cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer

Since the creation of Dolly via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), more than a dozen species of mammals have been cloned using this technology. One hypothesis for the limited success of cloning via SCNT (1%-5%) is that the clones are likely to be derived from adult stem cells. Support for this hypothesis comes from the findings that the reproductive cloning efficiency for embryonic stem cells is five to ten times higher than that for somatic cells as donors and that cloned pups cannot be produced directly from cloned embryos derived from differentiated B and T cells or neuronal cells. The question remains as to whether SCNT-derived animal clones can be derived from truly differentiated somatic cells. We tested this hypothesis with mouse hematopoietic cells at different differentiation stages: hematopoietic stem cells, progenitor cells and granulocytes. We found that cloning efficiency increases over the differentiation hierarchy, and terminally differentiated postmitotic granulocytes yield cloned pups with the greatest cloning efficiency.     

乳腺癌血清多肽图研究

乳腺癌一直是全世界范围内威胁妇女健康的恶性疾病, 尽管人们已经进行了大量的研究以减少乳腺癌对人类的危害, 但是乳腺癌仍然是目前导致死亡的恶性肿瘤之一. 乳腺癌的早期发现对于患者的愈后与生存意义重大, 可以明显提高病人生存时间、降低病人的死亡率. 据统计, 在过去的5年里, 早期诊断每年可减少3.2%因乳腺癌死亡的患者. 然而研究表明, 目前常用的乳腺癌诊断技术, 如乳腺X射线摄影和乳房检查均无法诊断出40%的早期乳癌患者和大多数年轻女性的乳腺肿瘤. 因此在乳腺癌临床治疗中, 急需发展新型的高效诊断技术.     

南海北部近代沉积物钕同位素分布及意义

南海北部及周边地区近代陆源沉积物稀土元素配分模式总体相似, 接近上地壳平均成分(PAAS), 在重稀土含量上则略为偏高, LaN/LuN比值明显小于PAAS. 但是珠江主要支流西江沉积物的稀土元素含量略高于PAAS, 在重稀土分布态势上明显偏轻, LaN/LuN比值明显大于PAAS. 南海北部地区近代沉积物钕同位素分布具有明显的区域性, 主要受控于珠江源区和闽粤沿海源区以及台湾岛源区. 闽粤沿海地区ε_Nd(0)值最大, 西江沉积物最小, 台湾岛以及海域中沉积物ε_Nd(0)值介于两者之间. 沿伶仃洋-东沙岛连线, 在该线东北区域钕同位素值相对偏高, 西南区域相对偏低. 珠江源沉积物主要影响该线西南区域, 源区母岩以发育大量古生代碳酸盐岩为特征. 闽粤沿海源区以及台湾岛源区, 主要影响该线东北区域, 闽粤沿海源区母岩以发育大量中新生代花岗岩为特征. 由于源区母岩成分上的不同, 造成沉积物在重稀土含量、Sc/Ti比值以及ε_Nd(0)值上存在明显差异. 发育在东沙群岛东南侧高沉积速率堆积体的陆源物质超过80%来自南海北部源区即闽粤沿海源区以及台湾岛源区, 来自珠江源的陆源沉积物不超过20%.     

江淮梅雨建立的年际变化及其前期强影响信号分析

江淮梅雨建立具有显著的年际变化特征. 利用NCEP/NCAR再分析数据集以及NOAA提供的全球射出长波辐射和扩展重建海温等资料研究了梅雨建立的年际变化及其前期强影响信号, 并探讨了该信号影响梅雨建立年际变化的可能机制. 结果表明, 前期中太平洋ENSO(CP-ENSO)事件是影响梅雨建立年际变化的强信号, 该信号具有较好的短期气候预测准确率和实用性. 当前期冬季2月和春季呈现CP-ENSO暖(冷)位相时, 梅雨建立最有可能偏晚(早). CP-ENSO主要是通过EAP(或JP)遥相关型影响梅雨建立, 其中位于热带西北太平洋的反气旋环流起着重要作用. CP-ENSO暖(冷)位相年, 热带暖湿气流向江淮流域输送偏晚(早), 赤道附近的中太平洋地区海温产生正(负)异常, 通过海气相互作用, 使得西太平洋副高北跳和印度西南季风建立偏晚(早), 东亚上空大气环流由春到夏的季节性转换因而偏晚(早). 大气环流季节性转换和热带暖湿气流向江淮流域输送偏早(晚)是江淮梅雨建立偏早(晚)的主要原因.     

南京栖霞山铅锌矿山中的现代钙华:一种高度富锌和锰的方解石

金属硫化物矿山开发引发的重金属污染已成为当前急需解决的环境问题. 以南京栖霞山铅锌矿采矿巷道壁上的现代钙华为研究对象, 利用电子探针、扫描电子显微镜和X射线粉末衍射分析等矿物学手段, 分析了钙华中的矿物组成及其重金属元素的赋存形态和分布状况. 结果表明钙华的主要矿物成分为方解石. 尽管地层水的重金属含量较低, 但是钙华中碳酸盐矿物的微量元素含量却较高, 最高含量分别为: Mn 23.65%, Zn 9.60%, Mg 0.76%, Fe 4.44%和Pb 0.66%. 钙华在电子探针背散射电子像中呈现出复杂的韵律壳层构造, 成分分析表明这种韵律壳层构造与重金属的分布有关. 另外, 在钙华中见有螺旋状及团絮状物质可能表明微生物参与了钙华的形成过程, 并与重金属的富集存在关联. 所报道的高度富锌-锰方解石对矿山环境中的重金属污染治理具有可借鉴意义.     

东方龙虱鞘翅:形态学及力学性能研究

研究了东方龙虱鞘翅的拓扑结构及其鞘翅生物材料的力学性能. SEM观测表明鞘翅横向截面和纵向截面结构相同, 是一种具 “桥墩” 状连接的空腔轻质结构, 由致密的黑色外表皮层和其下数十层几丁质纤维层平行、螺旋交织构成的内表皮层组成; 纳米压痕仪测得新鲜鞘翅外侧区域的硬度和弹性模量分别为0.31和6.13 GPa; 拉伸实验得到新鲜鞘翅横向和纵向的强度极限分别为169.2和194.5 MPa; 干燥鞘翅对应的强度极限为85.38和90.91 MPa, 新鲜鞘翅的强度是干燥鞘翅值的2倍; 结果表明甲虫鞘翅是一种力学性能呈现拓扑分布规律的轻质生物复合材料, 该研究为航空航天材料的轻质结构的设计提供了生物学的参考.     

低硫柴油直喷燃烧超细颗粒排放特性研究

对比研究了燃用普通柴油和低硫柴油其排气超细颗粒数量浓度分布及化学成分特征. 结果表明, 相对于燃用普通柴油, 燃用低硫柴油其排气总颗粒质量浓度略有降低, 而数量浓度显著降低, 且降幅随负荷和转速增大. 燃用普通柴油和低硫柴油其排气微粒数浓度粒径分布曲线形状基本相似, 同一测试工况下, 相对于燃用普通柴油, 燃用低硫柴油其排气积聚模态微粒数量浓度变化较小, 而核模态微粒排放显著降低. 发动机排气微粒主要由C, O, Cl, S, Si, Ca, Na, Al, K元素组成, 燃用普通柴油和低硫柴油其排气微粒元素组成基本相似, 但燃用低硫柴油排气微粒中没有发现S元素. 排气微粒中挥发性有机物(SOF)主要成分有饱和烷烃(碳原子数为C15~C26)、有机酸酯和多环芳烃等. 燃用低硫柴油时微粒采样中未发现多环芳烃.     

心跳间隔增量序列的多尺度分析及临床应用

通过对心跳间隔序列、心跳间隔增量序列的多尺度熵和多尺度标准差分析, 发现心跳间隔序列的多尺度熵主要反映年龄对心脏活动水平的影响, 不足以作为区分充盈性心衰的诊断依据. 然而, 心跳间隔增量序列的多尺度熵分析却显示充盈性心衰和房颤患者心率变异性的复杂性较健康人有显著降低, 揭示两种疾病的心率变异性有着共同的潜在动力学性质. 提出了以心跳间隔增量序列在尺度4下的样本熵作为充盈性心衰和房颤的诊断依据并给出了参考值. 通过分析不同心功能分级对结果的影响, 发现即使是轻度心衰也能显著区别于健康人, 意味着该参数可以用于心衰的早期诊断.