Transplantable neural progenitor populations derived from Rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells

Cell-based therapies using embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the treatment of neural disease will require the generation of homogenous donor neural progenitor (NP) populations. Here we describe an efficient culture system containing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and G5 supplement for the production of highly enriched (88.3% +/- 8.1%)populations of NPs from rhesus monkey ESCs. Additional purification resulted in NP preparations that were 98% nestin positive. Moreover, NPs, as monolayers or neurospheres, could be maintained for prolonged periods of time in media containing HGF+G5 or G5 alone. In vitro differentiation and in vivo transplantation assays showed that NPs could differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. The kinds and quantities of differentiated cells derived from NPs were closely correlated with their niches in vivo. Glial differentiation was predominant in periventricular areas, whereas cells migrating into the cortex were mostly neurons. Cell counts showed that 2 months after transplantation, approximately 25% of transplanted NPs survived and 65% - 80% of the surviving transplanted cells migrated along the ventricular wall or in a radial fashion. Subcloning demonstrated that several clonal lines derived from NPs expressed nestin and differentiated into three neural lineages in vitro and in rat brains in vivo. In contrast, some subcloned lines showed restricted differentiation both in vitro and in vivo in rat brains. These observations set the stage for obtaining highly enriched NPs and evaluating the efficacy of NP-based transplantation therapy in the nonhuman primate and will provide a platform for probing the molecular mechanisms that control neural induction.

高电荷态238Uq+在碳膜中电荷平衡时间的研究

离子通过物质过程中与靶原子发生碰撞，碰撞中大量电子被俘获和电离。当电子俘获截面与电离截面达到平衡时，出射离子的电荷态分布达到一个平衡的分布，这个分布与入射离子的核电荷数、速度、壳层结构以及靶材料的性质有关。研究离子通过物质后的电荷态分布和电荷平衡时间对于研究高电荷态离子穿越物质层时的电荷转换及平衡过程具有重要意义。 本文论述了能量为0.8 MeV/u 238Uq+离子通过不同厚度碳膜后的电荷态分布，并对铀离子在碳膜中的电荷平衡时间进行了研究。 实验中束流采用兰州重离子加速器国家重点实验室（HIRFL）首次加速出的能量为0.8 MeV/u 238U26+离子束。本实验是首次在兰州放射性次级束流线（RIBLL）实验终端进行，采用的实验方法新颖。为了研究不同初始电荷态的铀离子通过不同厚度碳膜后的电荷态分布，实验中采取让初级束流 238U26+通过0.1µm厚度碳膜后形成一个电荷态分布，通过调节二极磁铁的控制电流从中选择某一电荷态轰击碳靶，进行电荷态分布研究。 实验对0.8 MeV/u 238Uq+(q=26，29，34，39)通过不同厚度碳膜（5µg/cm2，15µg/cm2，26µg/cm2和225µg/cm2）后的电荷态分布进行了研究。结果发现：能量为0.8 MeV/u的铀离子通过5µg/cm2厚度碳膜后，出射铀离子的电荷态分布未达到平衡；同样铀离子通过15µg/cm2厚度碳膜后，出射铀离子的电荷态分布已达到平衡，平衡平均电荷态为33.72+；由此通过计算得到铀离子在碳膜中的电荷平衡时间为1/3×5.4fs<=t<=5.4fs

Rapid label-free detection of metal-induced Alzheimer's amyloid beta peptide aggregation by electrochemical method

Amyloid beta peptide plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Metal ions are highly enriched in cerebral amyloid deposits in AD and are proposed to be able to mediate A beta conformation. Therefore, a rapid, low-cost, and sensitive detection of metal-induced A beta aggregation and their relation to AD is clearly needed for the clinical diagnosis and treatment. In this report, we study metal-induced A beta aggregation by a rapid, label-free electrochemical method and monitor both the aggregation kinetics and the morphology in the absence or presence of Zn (II) and Cu (II).

Rare earth elements in bottom sediments of major rivers around the Yellow Sea: implications for sediment provenance

Rare earth elements (REEs) of 91 fine-grained bottom sediment samples from five major rivers in Korea (the Han, Keum, and Yeongsan) and China (the Changjiang and Huanghe) were studied to investigate their potential as source indicator for Yellow Sea shelf sediments, this being the first synthetic report on REE trends for bottom sediments of these rivers. The results show distinct differences in REE contents and their upper continental crust (UCC)-normalized patterns: compared to heavy rare earth elements (HREEs), light rare earth elements (LREEs) are highly enriched in Korean river sediments, in contrast to Chinese river sediments that have a characteristic positive Eu anomaly. This phenomenon is observed also in primary source rocks within the river catchments. This suggests that source rock composition is the primary control on the REE signatures of these river sediments, due largely to variations in the levels of chlorite and monazite, which are more abundant in Korean bottom river sediments. Systematic variations in I LREE pound/I HREE pound ratios, and in (La/Yb)-(Gd/Yb)(UCC) but also (La/Lu)-(La/Y)(UCC) and (La/Y)-(Gd/Lu)(UCC) relations have the greatest discriminatory power. These findings are consistent with, but considerably expand on the limited datasets available to date for suspended sediments. Evidently, the REE fingerprints of these river sediments can serve as a useful diagnostic tool for tracing the provenance of sediments in the Yellow Sea, and for reconstructing their dispersal patterns and the circulation system of the modern shelf, as well as the paleoenvironmental record of this and adjoining marginal seas.

新增生岩石圈与软流圈的相互作用：来自地幔橄榄岩捕虏体的证据

The petrology and geochemistry of peridotites entrained in Beiyan Cenozoic alkaline basalts within the middle segment of Tan-Lu fault zone and clinopyroxene megacrysts in the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic alkaline basaltic rocks from the North China Craton, have been systematically investigated. The main conclusions are obtained as follows. The peridotites entrained in alkaline basalts at Beiyan, Shandong Province, China are comprised of dominantly spinel lherzolites and spinel wehrlites with porphyroclastic, granuloblastic textures to resorption textures. The xenoliths are fertile in major element compositions (High CaO, TiO2, Low MgO, Cr2O3). The olivine Fo (= 100×Mg / (Mg+Fe) possesses a low and very large range of 81.0 to 91.0. The peridotites contain high percentages (Lherzolites: 10 - 19% in volume; Wehrlites: 24 - 28% in volume) of clinopyroxene with spongy textures. The Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of clinopyroxene separates from peridotites and pyroxenite xenoliths have a depleted and small range fall within the area of MORB, similar to newly-accreted lithospheric mantle. However, the appearance of many wehrlites and highly enriched LREE pattern suggest that this newly-accreted lithospheric mantle was considerably modified and reconstructed recently through the peridotite-asthenospheric melt interaction. The upwelling of asthenosphere from late Cretaceous to Eogene and upper mantle shearing of the Tan-Lu fault played an important role in the modification and reconstruction of the newly-accreted lithospheric mantle. The clinopyroxene megacrysts in the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic alkaline basaltic rocks from the eatern North China Craton are different in aspects of major elements, trace elements and isotopic composition. The characteristics of texture, mineral compositions and geochemistry as well as the Fe-Mg partitioning between the crystal and the melt indicates that the Al-augites in the Cenozoic basalts represent high-pressure crystallization products of alkaline basaltic melts. Thus, both of clinopyroxene megacrysts and host basalts could be derived from a same primitive magma. However, the Al-augites in the late Mesozoic basaltic rocks represent accidentally-included xenocrysts of basaltic components which had crystallized in the depth from a previously melting episode. The more depleted Sr-Nd isotopic compositions of Cenozoic megacrysts compared with those of host alkaline basalts and tholeiites demonstrate that even the alkali basalts could not completely represent primitive magma initiating in asthenosphere. That is to say, the Cenozoic alkaline basalts were more or less modified by some enriched Sr-Nd isotopic components during their eruption. Meanwhile, the tholeiites were not the products formed only by fractional crystallization of alkaline basaltic magma or different degrees of partial melting. It may result from the contribution of lithospheric mantle materials or crust contamination in magma chamber to alkali basaltic magmas.

Study on charge equilibration time of highly charged ions in carbon foils

Charge state distribution of 0.8MeV/u uranium ions after transmission through a thin carbon foil has been studied. It is observed that the charge state distribution is equilibrated after the uranium ions have passed through a 15 mu g/cm(2) carbon foil. The equilibrated average charge state is 33.72 and the charge equilibration time of uranium ions in carbon foil is less than 5.4fs.

The Liquefaction and Displacement of Highly Saturated Sand under Water Pressure Oscillation

In order to investigate the characteristics of water wave induced liquefaction in highly saturated sand in vertical direction, a one-dimensional model of highly saturated sand to water pressure oscillation is presented based oil the two-phase continuous media theory. The development of the effective stresses and the liquefaction thickness are analyzed. It is shown that water pressure oscillating loading affects liquefaction severely and the developing rate of liquefaction increases with the decreasing of the sand strength or the increasing of the loading strength. It is shown also that there is obvious phase lag in the sand Column. If the sand permeability is non-uniform, the pore pressure and the strain rise sharply at which the smallest permeability occurs. This solution may explain Why the fracture occurs in the sand column in some conditions.

Rapidly Infrared-Assisted Cooperatively Self-Assembled Highly Ordered Multiscale Porous Materials

In this paper, cooperative self-assembly (CSA) of colloidal spheres with different sizes was studied. It was found that a complicated jamming effect makes it difficult to achieve an optimal self-assembling condition for construction of a well-ordered stacking of colloidal spheres in a relatively short growth time by CSA. Through the use of a characteristic infrared (IR) technique to significantly accelerate local evaporation on the growing interface without changing the bulk growing environment, a concise three-parameter (temperature, pressure, and IR intensity) CSA method to effectively overcome the jamming effect has been developed. Mono- and multiscale inverse opals in a large range of lattice scales can be prepared within a growth time (15-30 min) that is remarkably shorter than the growth times of several hours for previous methods. Scanning electron microscopy images and transmittance spectra demonstrated the superior crystalline and optical qualities of the resulting materials. More importantly, the new method enables optimal conditions for CSA without limitations on sizes and materials of multiple colloids. This strategy not only makes a meaningful advance in the applicability and universality of colloidal crystals and ordered porous materials but also can be an inspiration to the self-assembly systems widely used in many other fields, such as nanotechnology and molecular bioengineering.

Directly synthesized strong, highly conducting, transparent single-walled carbon nanotube films

We report the direct synthesis of strong, highly conducting, and transparent single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) films. Systematically, tests reveal that the directly synthesized films have superior electrical and mechanical properties compared with the films made from a solution-based filtration process: the electrical conductivity is over 2000 S/cm and the strength can reach 360 MPa. These values are both enhanced by more than 1 order. We attribute these intriguing properties to the good and long interbundle connections. Moreover, by the help of an extrapolated Weibull theory, we verify the feasibility of reducing the interbundle slip by utilizing the long-range intertube friction and estimate the ultimate strength of macroscale SWNTs without binding agent.

Pure Coulomb explosions of highly charged methane clusters investigated by a simple electrostatic model

The pure Coulomb explosions of the methane clusters (CA(4))(n), (light atom A = H or D) have been investigated by a simplified electrostatic model for both a single cluster and an ensemble of clusters with a given cluster size distribution. The dependence of the energy of ions produced from the explosions on cluster size and the charge state of the carbon ions has been analysed. It is found that, unlike the average proton energy which increases with the charge q of the carbon ions, the average deuteron energy tends to saturate as q becomes larger than 4. This implies that when the laser intensity is sufficiently high for the (CD4)(n) to be ionized to a charge state of (C4+D4+)(n), the neutron yield from a table-top laser-driven Coulomb explosion of deuterated methane clusters (CD4)(n) could be increased significantly by increasing the interaction volume rather than by increasing the laser intensity to produce the higher charge state (C6+D4+)(n). The flight-time spectra of the carbon ions and the light ions have also been studied.

Highly sensitive wave-front sensor with a non-zero-order phase plate

We propose a novel highly sensitive wave front detection method for a quick check of a flat wave front by taking advantage of a non-zero-order pi phase plate that yields a non-zero-order diffraction pattern. When a light beam with a flat wave front illuminates a phase plate, the zero-order intensity is zero. When there is a slight distortion of the wave front, the zero-order intensity increases. The ratio of first-order intensity to that of zero-order intensity is used as the criterion with which to judge whether the wave front under test is flat, eliminating the influence of background light. Experimental results demonstrate that this method is efficient, robust, and cost-effective and should be highly interesting for a quick check of a flat wave front of a large-aperture laser beam and adaptive optical systems. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Design of a highly stable, high-conversion-efficiency pumping source for optical parametric amplifier by extending efficient crystal length

The objective of this study is to improve the stability of pumping source of optical parametric amplifier. Analysis by simulation leads to the conclusion that the stability of the second harmonic can be improved by using properly the intensity of fundamental light and corresponding length of the crystal. By the method of the noncollinear two-pass second harmonic or the tandem second harmonic, the efficient crystal length is extended to a proper value, and the stability of the second harmonic output has been improved two times more than that for the fundamental light, and the conversion-efficiency is about 70% in experiment. When the variation of the fundamental light is about 10%, the variation of the second harmonic intensity has been controlled within 5%. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highly stable, diode-pumped Nd : YLF regenerative amplifier

We present the design and experimental results for a diode pumped Nd:YLF regenerative amplifier applied to amplify a nanosecond laser pulse. Numerical simulation shows that the maximum output energy and the best stability can be obtained when the regenerative amplifier operates in a saturated mode for all pulse duration and temporal profiles. Using extra post-pulse is a good method to decrease the square-pulse distortion caused by gain saturation effect. The amplifier shows output energy of 4.2mJ with a total energy gain of more than 107 and output energy stability of better than 1% rms. When extra post-pulse is added, square-pulse distortion is decreased from 1.33 to 1.17 for the amplifier that is seeded with an optical pulse of 3 ns.