Blue green emission from a Cu+-Doped transparent material prepared by sintering porous glass

A colorless transparent, blue green emission material was fabricated by sintering porous glass impregnated with copper ions. The emission spectral profile obtained from Cu+ -doped high silica glass (HSG) by 267-mn monochromatic light excitation matches that obtained by pumping with an 800-nm femtosecond laser, indicating that the emissions in both cases come from an identical origin. The upconversion emission excited by 800-nm femtosecond laser is considered to be a three-photon excitation process. A tentative scheme of upconverted emission from Cu+ -doped HSG was also proposed. The glass materials presented herein are expected to find application in lamps, high density optical storage, and three-dimensional color displays.

Generation of 210 fs laser pulses at 1093 nm by a self-starting mode-locked Yb:GYSO laser

We report the first demonstration, to our knowledge, of the femtosecond laser operation by using a new alloyed Yb:GYSO crystal as the gain medium. With a 5 at. % Yb3+-doped sample and chirped mirrors for dispersion compensation, we obtained pulses as short as 210 fs at the center wavelength of 1093 nm. The average mode-locking power is 300 mW, and the pulse repetition frequency is 80 MHz. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

鉴别用变方位角导模共振滤光片的设计

设计了在0°和90°方位角下都具有低旁带的鉴别用导模共振滤光片。利用严格的耦合波理论，分析了这种器件在不同入射角、不同光栅槽深和覆盖不同厚度SiO2层情况下的衍射特性。得到了满足鉴别要求的导模共振滤光片结构。在30°入射角情况下，对于TE模式偏振光，设计的滤光片在0°和90°方位角下都有形状对称的反射光谱、低的旁带、两个位置分开的共振峰和适当的半宽度。

Compensation of reflectance response deviations of guided-mode resonant filters induced by overetching fabrication

Unless the fabrication error control is well treated, it easily causes overetched fabrication errors, which causes the resonant peak value deviation during the fabrication process of guided-mode resonant filters (GMRFs). Hence, the fabrication error control becomes a key point for improving the performance of GMRF. We find that, within the range of the groove depth from 93 to 105 nm, the relationship between the overetched error and the resonant peak value deviation is nearly linear, which means that we can compensate the reflectance response deviation and reduce the resonant peak value deviation by the method of covering the layer film on the GMRF. Simulation results show that the deviation is compensated perfectly by this way. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

向日葵 (Helianthus annuus L.) 种质资源相关的基础研究

向日葵原产自北美,通过人工培育,形成了具有不同遗传多态性的品种,是一种集观赏、药用、食用、油用于一体，经济价值很高的资源植物。前人已经利用传统育种、辐射育种以及现代生物技术手段对向日葵种质资源的开发和保护进行了深入研究，这也加速了向日葵新品种的选育。随着离子注入等新型辐射方式的出现，离子注入对向日葵的诱变育种研究逐渐成为向日葵新品种选育的一个新增长点。另外，作为世界四大油料作物之一，向日葵种子老化问题一直存在于向日葵种质资源保存过程。向日葵种子作为向日葵的主要物质储存库，除了含有丰富的油、脂肪酸外，还含有丰富的维生素E资源。提高向日葵种子维生素E含量可以延长向日葵种子保存时间，也可以提高向日葵的经济价值。本文以向日葵种子为实验材料，分别用蛋白质组学的方法和生理方法对N+注入后向日葵种子、人工衰老向日葵种子以及向日葵种子成熟过程中维生素E代谢进行了初步分析。 对N+注入后向日葵种子蛋白质组变异研究发现，对照种子蛋白中的No.29特异蛋白与MADS盒转录因子HAM59有23.48%的匹配率;处理种子中的No.279特异蛋白与亮氨酸拉链蛋白的同源蛋白HAHB-4有23.20%的匹配率。说明离子注入能引起向日葵种胚蛋白质组水平上的变异，以期对离子注入的诱变机制进行初步探讨，为进一步探讨离子注入对于DNA及蛋白质的是否存在诱变热点提供一些初步的证据。 种子在高温和高含水量情况下曝露数天诱发的加速衰老比一般衰老引起更多的生化分解;另一方面，在长期贮存条件下的低温贮存环境和种子低含水量可能使种子处于玻璃态。种子胞质的极高粘度和低分子运动能够阻止或抑制很多有害过程。尽管种子衰老的生理机制已有大量研究，但衰老过程中的主要过程和相互作用仍未完全清楚。本文报道向日葵种子在较宽范围的含水量和温度条件下的脂过氧化、非酶蛋白糖基化对种子衰老的影响;同时，对种子玻璃态在长期贮存中对生化分解的阻滞作用并由此延长种子存活力也进行了探讨;与此同时我们借用蛋白质组学手段对加速老化的向日葵种子进行蛋白质组变异分析，结果发现随着老化程度的加深，出现部分蛋白含量随之增加，同时老化速率随之下降。通过质谱鉴定发现其中两个蛋白分别与resistance gene analog NBS4和 NBS5具有一定的同源性。因此我们推测，在加速老化过程中，亦可出现一些延缓老化的蛋白质，同时这些蛋白的出现是否标志着加速老化过程中也存在“玻璃态”有待于进一步的证实。 另外，我们以20份向日葵种质资源为实验材料，通过对维生素E含量、含油率、皮壳率以及百粒重的测定及统计分析，试图了解向日葵种质资源中维生素E含量变异及相关数据。结果表明，在20份向日葵种质资源中，油葵的维生素E含量和含油率明显高于食葵;含油率与维生素E含量在0.01水平呈极显著正相关，含油率与百粒重在0.05水平呈显著负相关;百粒重与皮壳率在0.01水平呈极显著负相关。通过初步评价，发现3份富含天然维生素E的向日葵种质。为了提高向日葵种子中维生素E含量，我们对向日葵胚胎发育过程中维生素E的积累以及短时高温对维生素E代谢的影响做了分析。我们发现，生育酚含量在开花后12到33天期间呈线性增长，并于33天后基本达到最大值，直至种子成熟。在上述生育酚增长期，我们将以每7天作为一个时间单位，对向日葵种胚发育过程进行高温处理。我们发现，高温对维生素E积累具有明显的刺激作用（以干重为基础）。但是由于在开花后12到19天之内高温处理会极大的影响干重的增加，因此当温度超过35℃时，生育酚总量还是大大下降的。然而，35℃的高温在向日葵开花后12到19天内并没有影响种胚的干重，而大大提高了单粒种子中的生育酚含量。因此，这些结果说明，我们可以调整播种时间提高向日葵中生育酚的含量，从而提高向日葵油的品质和向日葵种质的价值。

Rapid evolution of mammalian X-linked testis microRNAs

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which are small, non-coding RNAs approximately 21-nucleotides in length, have become a major focus of research in molecular biology. Mammalian miRNAs are proposed to regulate approximately 30% of all protein-coding genes. P

Small but influential: the role of microRNAs on gene regulatory network and 3 ' UTR evolution

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous similar to 22 nucleotide noncoding RNAs that regulate the expression of complementary messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Thousands of miRNA genes have been found in diverse species, and many of them are highly conserved. With the mi

Global distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroup C reveals the prehistoric migration routes of African exodus and early settlement in East Asia

The regional distribution of an ancient Y-chromosome haplogroup C-M130 (Hg C) in Asia provides an ideal tool of dissecting prehistoric migration events. We identified 465 Hg C individuals out of 4284 males from 140 East and Southeast Asian populations. We genotyped these Hg C individuals using 12 Y-chromosome biallelic markers and 8 commonly used Y-short tandem repeats (Y-STRs), and performed phylogeographic analysis in combination with the published data. The results show that most of the Hg C subhaplogroups have distinct geographical distribution and have undergone long-time isolation, although Hg C individuals are distributed widely across Eurasia. Furthermore, a general south-to-north and east-to-west cline of Y-STR diversity is observed with the highest diversity in Southeast Asia. The phylogeographic distribution pattern of Hg C supports a single coastal 'Out-of-Africa' route by way of the Indian subcontinent, which eventually led to the early settlement of modern humans in mainland Southeast Asia. The northward expansion of Hg C in East Asia started similar to 40 thousand of years ago (KYA) along the coastline of mainland China and reached Siberia similar to 15 KYA and finally made its way to the Americas. Journal of Human Genetics (2010) 55, 428-435; doi:10.1038/jhg.2010.40; published online 7 May 2010

Molecular and functional characterization of a c-type lysozyme from the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis

Some lepidopteran lysozymes have been reported to display activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, in contrast to most lysozymes that are active only against Gram-positive bacteria. OstrinLysC, a c-type lysozyme, was purified from the As

A horsefly saliva antigen 5-like protein containing RTS motif is an angiogenesis inhibitor

The Ag5 proteins are the most abundant and immunogenic proteins in the venom secretory ducts of stinging insects. An antigen 5-like protein (named tabRTS) composed of 221 amino acid residues was purified and characterized from the salivary glands of the horsefly, Tabanus yao (Diptera, Tabanidae). Its cDNA was cloned from the cDNA library of the horsefly's salivary gland. TabRTS containing the SCP domain (Sc7 family of extracellular protein domain) was found in insect antigen 5 proteins. More interestingly, there is an Arg-Thr-Ser (RTS) disintegrin motif at the C-terminus of tabRTS. The RTS motif is positioned in a loop bracketed by cysteine residues as those found in RTS-disintegrins of Crotalidae and Viperidae snake venoms, which act as angiogenesis inhibitors. Endothelial Cell Tube formation assay in vitro and chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) angiogenesis assay in vivo were performed as to investigate the effect of tabRTS on angiogenesis. It was found that tabRTS could significantly inhibit angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Anti-alpha(1)beta(1) monoclonal antibody could dose-dependently inhibit the anti-angiogenic activity of tabRTS. This result indicated that tabRTS possibly targets the alpha(1)beta(1) integrin to exert the anti-angiogenic activity as snake venom RTS-/KTS-disintegrins do. The current work revealed the first angiogenesis inhibitor protein containing RTS motif from invertebrates, a possible novel type of RTS-disintegrin. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Five novel antimicrobial peptides from skin secretions of the frog, Amolops loloensis

While investigating antimicrobial peptide diversity of Amolops loloensis, five novel antimicrobial peptides belonging to two families were identified from skin secretions of this frog. The first family including two members is esculentin-2-AL (esculentin-2-ALa and -ALb): the second family including three members is temporin-AL (temporin-ALd to -ALf). The family of esculentin-2-AL is composed of 37 amino acid residues (aa); the family of temporin-AL is composed of 16, 13 and 10 aa, respectively. All of these antimicrobial peptides showed antimicrobial activities against tested microorganisms. cDNAs encoding precursors of esculentin-2-ALs and temporin-ALs were cloned from the skin cDNA library of A. loloensis. All the precursors share similar overall structures. There is a typical prohormone processing signal (Lys-Arg) located between the acidic propiece and the mature peptide. The antimicrobial peptide family of esculentin-2 is firstly reported in the genus of Amolops. Combined with previous reports, a total of four antimicrobial peptide families have been identified from the genus of Amolops; three of them are also found in the genus of Rana. These results suggest the possible evolutionary connection between the genera Amolops and Rana. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seasonal change in the structure of fig-wasp community and its implication for conservation

Figs (Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Agaonidae) constitute a famous reciprocal mutualism in which figs provide some female flowers for the development of fig wasp offspring while the fig wasps pollinate Fig flowers. However, figs also host many no