C, N and P regeneration by a detritivorous fish, Liza haematocheila T. & S.: effects of temperature, diet and body size

Detritus, as a nutrients reservoir, affects the trophic structure and dynamics of communities and supports a greater diversity of species and longer food chains. Detritivorous fish is an important organism to regenerate the nutrients from sediments. Despite the numerous studies on the nutrients cycle in fish, only a few attempts have been made to quantify the regenerating ability. In the present study, we chose the common detritivorous fish redeye mullet as the research object. Redeye mullet is also a common poly-culture fish in China. Diet, including a commercial diet mostly used in aquaculture and a home-made diet with contents close to detritus, was used and considered as a fixed factor. Temperature was also considered as a fixed factor as much research has shown that temperature has significant effects on fish metabolism. Moreover, body size was regarded as a covariate under analysis of covariance. Three key nutrients, namely carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, were used to measure the nutrient-regenerating ability of redeye mullet under laboratory conditions. The results showed that the nutrient regeneration in percent of the consumption decreased with increasing temperature. Carbon and nitrogen regeneration of redeye mullet fed on commercial diet was lower than those of the home-made diet group, while the opposite was found for phosphorus. In each group, the amount of regenerated nutrients increased linearly with body size. Fed on the home-made diet, 5-g fish at 25 degrees C can regenerate 210.822 mg C, 37.533 mg N and 0.727 mg P per day.

Descriptions of Protospathidium serpens (Kahl, 1930) and P-fraterculum n. sp (Ciliophora, Haptoria), two species based on different resting cyst morphology

Protospathidium serpens (Kahl, 1930) is frequent in semiterrestrial and terrestrial habitats worldwide. Conventionally, all populations are considered as conspecific because they have very similar overall morphologies and morphometrics. We studied in detail not only the morphology of the vegetative cells but also the resting cysts using live observation, protargol impregnation, and scanning electron microscopy. These revealed a cryptic diversity and biogeographic pattern in details of the dorsal brush and cyst wall morphology. The cyst wall is spiny in the Austrian specimens, while smooth in the South African and Antarctic populations. Accordingly, P. serpens consists of at least two species: P. serpens (with spiny cyst wall) and P. fraterculum n. sp. (with smooth cyst wall); the latter is probably composed of two distinct taxa differing by the absence (South African)/presence (Antarctic) of a monokinetidal bristle tail in brush row 3, the number of dikinetids comprising brush row 1 (seven versus three), and the total number of brush dikinetids (29 versus 17). Protospathidium serpens is neotypitied with the new population from Austria. The significance of resting cyst morphology is discussed with respect to alpha-taxonomy and overall ciliate diversity.

The experimental studies on electrical conductivities and P-wave velocities of anorthosite at high pressure and high temperature

National Science Foundation of China (No. 10032040 and No. 49874013) and Joint Earthquake Science Foundation of China (No. 101119).

Real-time investigation of the photodissociation dynamics of p-chlorotoluene and p-dichlorobenzene

De-excited dynamics of p-chlorotoluene and p-dichlorobenzene have been investigated by the femtosecond pump-probe method in a supersonic molecular beam. The yields of the parent ion and daughter ion are examined as a function of the delay time between the pump and probe laser pulses. The lifetime constants of excited p-chlorotoluene and p-dichlorobenzene are determined. Possible de-excitation mechanisms are suggested that the initially excited S-1 state is predissociative via the repulsive triplet state. The substituent effects of additional chlorine atom and methyl group are discussed. Moreover, for the first time, we observe a novel quantum beat oscillation in p-dichlorobenzene. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

缺失nifZ的棕色固氮菌突变株DJ194的钼铁蛋白研究—纯化、结晶及金属簇的组成与分布

从棕色固氮菌DJ194菌株得到的固氮酶粗提液经DEAE－52、Sephacryl S－200及Q－Sepharose等柱厌氧层析，分离纯化得到nifZ基因缺失的固氮酶MoFe蛋白（ΔnifZ Av1）制备物。通过天然电泳和SDS变性电泳发现早期纯化所得的ΔnifZ Av1制备物中残存相当比例的三个主要污染蛋白：属于热激蛋白60家族（Hsp 60 family）成员的分子伴侣GroEL、糖酵解过程的一个多功能酶——6-磷酸葡萄糖异构酶（6-Phosphate Glucose Isomerase，PGI）及棕色固氮菌细菌铁蛋白（Bacterioferritin，Bfr）。初步鉴定表明，它们分别为由约55kD亚基组成的14聚合体，62kD亚基组成的10聚体和20kD亚基组成的24聚体。首次发现PGI有如此高的聚合体。虽然GroEL和PGI在天然电泳中的迁移率小于ΔnifZ Av1蛋白，但它们的亚基在SDS变性电泳中与ΔnifZ Av1亚基具有相似的迁移率，互相重叠，从而使变性电泳比天然电泳显出更高的ΔnifZ Av1纯度;而细菌铁蛋白虽然不会在变性电泳中污染ΔnifZ Av1，但往往会在ΔnifZ Av1制备物的结晶中优先或较多地结晶出来,从而给它的晶体生长和解析研究带来干扰（Zhao等，2004）。 通过Sephacryl S－200柱洗脱峰收集精度的调整及Q－Sepharose柱的NaCl浓度梯度洗脱，得到了纯度大于90%的ΔnifZ Av1制备物。它的厌氧天然电泳及其免疫印渍（Western blotting），以及SDS-变性凝胶电泳显出，ΔnifZ Av1的电泳迁移率、分子量和亚基组成等均与野生种钼铁蛋白（OP Av1）相似，表明nifZ基因缺失并未改变ΔnifZ Av1的α2β2四聚体构成。ΔnifZ Av1的Mo含量、EPR信号（g≈4.3, 3.65和2.01）和520-660 nm附近的圆二色摩尔消光系数（Δε）也都与OP Av1较相似，从而表明ΔnifZ Av1含有与OP Av1数量相当的具有3/2自旋态的还原FeMoco。然而，ΔnifZ Av1的Fe含量和对底物（C2H2、H+和N2）的还原活性都较低, 分别约为OP Av1的74%和46-50%;而反映P-cluster状况的450nm附近的Δε也明显低于OP Av1。此外，与OP Av1相同的ΔnifZ Av1在g≈2.01的EPR信号却与推测含由双[4Fe-4S]簇组成的P-cluster前体的His-tagged ΔnifZ Av1（Hu等，2004）的信号明显不同。这就表明，ΔnifZ Av1与OP Av1的差别不在于FeMoco的结构、含量和氧还状态，也不在于P-cluster的结构和氧还状态，而仅在于ΔnifZ Av1中P-cluster数目的减少（约一半）。据此推测出与国外提出的His-tagged ΔnifZ Av1模型不同的ΔnifZ Av1(DJ194)的如下结构模型。一个αβ亚基对含有一个FeMoco和一个P-cluster，而另一个αβ亚基对只含FeMoco，其P-cluster区域则是空的。由于nifZ基因的缺失只造成了钼铁蛋白中两个P-cluster中的一个不能组装，因此推测P-cluster的组装可能不是受单一基因产物的影响。根据Lee等（1998）对nifZ产物（NifZ）和nifW产物（NifW）可以形成[NifWx-NifZy]多聚体，并可能是通过同一途径来影响固氮酶的合成的研究，提出NifZ的如下的可能作用机理。[NifWx-NifZy]多聚体影响与P-cluster合成相关的金属簇(如[4Fe-4S])的进入和P-cluster的最终合成，而其中的一个αβ对上的P-cluster的形成可能较多的受到NifZ的影响;nifZ的某些突变或缺失虽然不影响[NifWx-NifZy]多聚体的形成，但对于更依赖于NifZ的那个αβ对上的P-cluster的合成可能会产生不同的影响。 对这一高纯度的ΔnifZ Av1制备物结晶的研究表明，使用Tris缓冲系统的25%PEG 6K/MgCl2晶体培养液可以在较短的晶体培养时间内得到较大的晶体;在一定条件下，pH为7.5和8.3的培养液对出晶数和晶体大小的影响不明显;PEG 6K的浓度与MgCl2的浓度对出晶大小的影响有一定的相关性，即较低的PEG浓度在较低的MgCl2浓度下和较高的PEG浓度搭配较高的MgCl2浓度较易长出较大的晶体。虽然ΔnifZ Av1制备物的纯度达到90%以上，并且在染铁实验中表明其基本不含细菌铁蛋白，但我们在对得到的晶体进行电泳鉴定中仍然发现了一种与以前报导的砖红色晶体不同的深棕红色的细菌铁蛋白晶体，之所以颜色不同可能和所含的铁元素的氧化状态有关。不过在所鉴定的5支结晶管中只在一个管内发现了与固氮酶晶体同时存在的这种细菌铁蛋白晶体，说明通过蛋白纯度的提高减少细菌铁蛋白的含量以及晶体培养条件的优化，细菌铁蛋白晶体形成的几率就可大大降低。

Nanostructure in the p-layer and its impacts on amorphous silicon solar cells

The open circuit voltage (V-oc) of n-i-p type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells has been examined by means of experimental and numerical modeling. The i- and p-layer limitations on V-oc are separated and the emphasis is to identify the impact of different kinds of p-layers. Hydrogenated protocrystalline, nanocrystalline and microcrystalline silicon p-layers were prepared and characterized using Raman spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), optical transmittance and activation energy of dark-conductivity. The n-i-p a-Si:H solar cells incorporated with these p-layers were comparatively investigated, which demonstrated a wide variation of V-oc from 1.042 V to 0.369 V, under identical i- and n-layer conditions. It is found that the nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) p-layer with a certain nanocrystalline volume fraction leads to a higher V-oc. The optimum p-layer material for n-i-p type a-Si:H solar cells is not found at the onset of the transition between the amorphous to mixed phases, nor is it associated with a microcrystalline material with a large grain size and a high volume fraction of crystalline phase. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanostructure in the p-layer and its impacts on amorphous silicon solar cells

The open circuit voltage (V-oc) of n-i-p type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells has been examined by means of experimental and numerical modeling. The i- and p-layer limitations on V-oc are separated and the emphasis is to identify the impact of different kinds of p-layers. Hydrogenated protocrystalline, nanocrystalline and microcrystalline silicon p-layers were prepared and characterized using Raman spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), optical transmittance and activation energy of dark-conductivity. The n-i-p a-Si:H solar cells incorporated with these p-layers were comparatively investigated, which demonstrated a wide variation of V-oc from 1.042 V to 0.369 V, under identical i- and n-layer conditions. It is found that the nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) p-layer with a certain nanocrystalline volume fraction leads to a higher V-oc. The optimum p-layer material for n-i-p type a-Si:H solar cells is not found at the onset of the transition between the amorphous to mixed phases, nor is it associated with a microcrystalline material with a large grain size and a high volume fraction of crystalline phase. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Two novel molybdenum complexes containing [Mo2O2S2](2+) fragment: synthesis, crystal structures and catalytic studies

Mo2O2S2(HGly)(GlY)(2) 1 and K-6[Mo2O2S2(nta)(2)][Mo2O2S2(ntaH)(2)]center dot 4H(2)O 2 were synthesized by the reactions of (NH4)(2)MoS4 and amino acids L (L = glycine, nitrilotriacetic acid) in ethanol-water medium at ambient temperature. The two complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectra, UV-visible spectra, TG-DTA and XPS.

Constructing channel structures based on the assembly of p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene nanocapsules and [M(bpdo)(3)](2+)(M = Cu, Zn)

Novel channel structures based on [M(bpdo)(3)](2+) and p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene nanocapsules have been established; these are sustained exclusively by charge-assisted pi...pi interactions and sorption experiments show the porous materials have selective guest sorption properties.

Thiacalix[4]arene-Supported Planar Ln(4) (Ln = Tb-III, Dy-III) Clusters: Toward Luminescent and Magnetic Bifunctional Materials

This paper reports the syntheses, crystal structures, and luminescent and magnetic properties of four tetranuclear Tb-III (1 and 3) and Dy-III (2 and 4) complexes supported by p-phenylthiacalix[4]arene (H(4)PTC4A) and p-tert-butylthiacalix-[4]arene (H(4)TC4A). All four frameworks can be formulated as [Ln(4)(III)(PTC4A/TC4A)(2)(mu(4)-OH)Cl-3(CH3OH)(2)(H2O)(3)], and some methanol and water solvent molecules are occupied in the interstices. The compounds are featured with a sandwichlike unit constructed by two tail-to-tail calixarene molecules and a planar tetragonal (mu(4)-OH)Ln(4) cluster. The photoluminescent analyses suggest that there is an efficient ligand-to-Ln(III) energy transfer for compounds 1-3 and H(4)PTC4A is a more efficient "antenna" than H(4)TC4A.

Behaviour of Gaseous Chlorine and Alkali Metals During Biomass Thermal Utilisation

The behaviour of gaseous chlorine and alkali metals of three sorts of biomass (Danish straw, Swedish wood, and sewage sludge) in combustion or gasification is investigated by the chemical equilibrium calculating tool. The ranges of temperature, air-to-fuel ratio, and pressure are varied widely in the calculations (T=400-1800 K, gimel=0-1.8, and P=0.1-2.0 MPa). Results show that the air excess coefficient only has less significant influence on the release of gaseous chlorine and potassium or sodium during combustion. However, in biomass gasification, the influence of the air excess coefficient is very significant. Increasing air excess coefficient enhances the release of HCl(g), KOH(g), or NaOH(g) as well as it reduces the formation of KCl(g), NaCl(g), K(g), or Na(g). In biomass combustion or straw and sludge gasification, increasing pressure enhances the release of HCl(g) and reduces the amount of KCI(g), NaCl(g), KCI(g), or NaOH(g) at high temperatures. However, during wood gasification, the pressure enhances the formation of KOH(g) and KCI(g) and reduces the release of K(g) and HCl(g) at high temperatures. During wood and sewage sludge pyrolysis, nitrogen addition enhances the formation of KCN(g) and NaCN(g) and reduces the release of K(g) and Na(g). Kaolin addition in straw combustion may enhance the formation of potassium aluminosilicate in ash and significantly reduces the release of KCl(g) and KOH(g) and increases the formation of HCl(g).

Low Spring Constant Regulates P-Selectin-Psgl-1 Bond Rupture

Forced dissociation of selectin-ligand bonds is crucial to such biological processes as leukocyte recruitment, thrombosis formation, and tumor metastasis. Although the bond rupture has been well known at high loading rate r(f) (>= 10(2) pN/s), defined as the product of spring constant k and retract velocity v, how the low r(f) (< 10(2) pN/s) or the low k regulates the bond dissociation remains unclear. Here an optical trap assay was used to quantify the bond rupture at r(f) <= 20 pN/s with low k (similar to 10(-3)-10(-2) pN/nm) when P-selectin and P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1) were respectively coupled onto two glass microbeads. Our data indicated that the bond rupture force f retained the similar values when r(f) increased up to 20 pN/s. It was also found that f varied with different combinations of k and v even at the same r(f). The most probable force, f

Effect of laser spot size on fusion neutron yield in laser-deuterium cluster interactions

The effect of the laser spot size on the neutron yield of table-top nuclear fusion from explosions of a femtosecond intense laser pulse heated deuterium clusters is investigated by using a simplified model, in which the cluster size distribution and the energy attenuation of the laser as it propagates through the cluster jet are taken into account. It has been found that there exists a proper laser spot size for the maximum fusion neutron yield for a given laser pulse and a specific deuterium gas cluster jet. The proper spot size, which is dependent on the laser parameters and the cluster jet parameters, has been calculated and compared with the available experimental data. A reasonable agreement between the calculated results and the published experimental results is found.

Cluster explosion investigated by linearly chirped spectral scattering of an expanding plasma sphere

Femtosecond explosive processes of argon clusters irradiated by linearly chirped ultraintense laser pulses have been investigated by 90 degrees side spectral scattering. The spectral redshift and blueshift, which correlate with the cluster explosion processes have been measured for negatively and positively chirped driving laser pulses, respectively. The evolution of the heated-cluster polarizability indicates that the core of the cluster is shielded from the laser field in the beginning of the explosion and enhanced scattering occurs after the fast explosion initiates. Evidence of resonant heating is found from the coincidence of enhanced scattering with enhanced absorption measured using the transmitted spectra. Anomalously large-size clusters with very low gas density have been observed in this way and can be used as clean and important cluster targets.

固氮酶金属原子簇对其结构和功能的影响

一、 △nifZ MoFe蛋白的纯化、特性及晶体生长 从缺失nifZ的棕色因氮菌突变种DJ194中，经离子交换层析和凝胶过滤提纯得到△nifZ MoFe蛋白，其纯度可达SDS凝胶电泳纯。它的Fe、Mo含量分别为野生型OP MoFe蛋白的56.6%和75.0%左右;C_2H_2、H~+还原活性和△H_2均只有OP MoFe蛋白的14.6%、21.7%和21.7%;其可见吸收光谱、CD及AR谱都与OP MoFe蛋白有较大差异，其中，可以反应P-cluster氧还状态和含量的ε_(450nm)、ε_(700nm)及△ε_(450nm)均要比OP MoFe蛋白低;由紫外CD谱反映的△nifZ MoFe蛋白的构象也与OP MoFe蛋白有所不同。由此我们推测，nifZ可能与固氮酶MoFe蛋白中P-cluster的合成或组装有关。为进一步阐明△nifZ MoFe蛋白的结构和功能特性，我们对△nifZ MoFe蛋白的晶体生长进行了研究，通过对沉淀剂浓度、缓冲体系和pH、蛋白浓度以及温度等条件的不断优化组合，目前我们已获得棕色短斜四棱柱形△nifZ MoFe蛋白的最大晶体为0.15 * 0.09mm。 二、 MoFe(C,O)与含Mo、Mn和Cr重组液重组的比较研究 MoFe(R)经O_2和o-phen共同处理后，成为部分缺失FeMoco和P-cluster的不全蛋白(MoFe(C,O))，其C_2H_2还原活性降至MoFe(R)的40%左右，将其分别与含Mo、Cr和Mn的重组液进行保温重组，其C_2H_2还原活性及光谱学特征都得到明显恢复。通过对不同重组液及与MoFe(C,O)形成的重组蛋白的比较，我们认为：1)MoFe(R)中的Fe和Mo原子可能是逐步被鳌合除去的，且不同蛋白中的Fe和Mo原子的缺失程度不同，因而MoFe(C,O)会以多种状态存在;2)在重组液配制过程中，发生的一系列颜色变化及沉淀反应与其是否具有重组激活能力具有相关性，重组液中可能已合成一些简单的含M(M=Mo或Cr或Mn或V)的铁硫化物，但不可能形成完整的金属原子簇;3)含M(M=Mo或Cr或Mn)的重组液均能使MoFe(C,O)中遭到破坏的FeMoco和P-cluster及其连接部分得以重新组装和修复，进而恢复其底物还原活性和光谱学特征。 三、 含锰固氮酶的初步探索 棕色固氮菌突变种UW_3(nifH~-)不能在含钼的培养中固氮生长，但能在含MnSO_4的无氮培养基中固氮生长。用含MnSO_4的无钼无氮培养基培养该突变种从中纯化得到的固氮酶组分1蛋白，其C_2H_2及H~+还原活性约相当于MoFe(R)的20%左右，Mn元素含量测定表明，其中已经含有Mn元素，Fe/Mn比值比OP MoFe蛋白中的Fe/Mo低。这些结果表明：UW_3突变种在该种条件下可能已表达了不同于已发现的三种固氮酶的新的固氮酶组分1蛋白，并且其中含有Mn元素。