Effect of binary block-selective solvents on self-assembly of ABA triblock copolymer in dilute solution

We have studied the self-assembly of the ABA triblock copolymer (P4VP-b-PS-b-P4VP) in dilute solution by using binary block-selective solvents, that is, water and methanol. The triblock copolymer was first dissolved in dioxane to form a homogeneous solution. Subsequently, a given volume of selective solvent was added slowly to the solution to induce self-assembly of the copolymer. It was found that the copolymer (P4VP(43)-b-PS366-b-P4VP(43)) tended to form spherical aggregate or bilayer structure when we used methanol or water as the single selective solvent, respectively.

Study of electron transfer across the liquid/ice-like matrix interface by scanning electrochemical microscopy

In this work, we report the findings of a study on scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) to investigate the interfacial electron-transfer (ET) reaction between the 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane radical anion (TCNQ(.-)) in 1,2-dichloroethane and ferricyanide in an ice-like matrix (a mixture of insulting ice and conductive liquid) under low temperatures. Experimental results indicate that the formed liquid/ice-like matrix interface is superficially similar in electrochemical characteristics to a liquid/liquid interface at temperatures above -20 degreesC. Furthermore, imaging data show that the surface of the ice-like matrix is microscopically flat and physically stable and can be applied as either a conductive or an insulting substrate for SECM studies. Perchlorate ion was selected as the common ion in both phases, the concentrations of which controlled the interfacial potential difference. The effect of perchlorate concentration in the DCE phase on interfacial reactions has been studied in detail. The apparent heterogeneous rate constants for TCNQ(.-) oxidation by Fe(CN)(6)(3-) in another phase under different temperatures have been calculated by a best-fit analysis, where the experimental approach curves are compared with the theoretically derived relationships. Reaction rate data obey Butler-Volmer formulation before and after the freezing point, which is similar to most other known cases of ET reactions at liquid/liquid interfaces. However, there is a sharp change observed for heterogeneous rate constants around the freezing point of the aqueous phase, which reflects the phase transition. At temperatures below -20 degreesC, surface-confined voltammograms for the reduction of ferricyanide were obtained, and the ice-like matrix became an insulating one, which indicates that the aqueous phase is really a frozen phase.

Gas phase derivations of endohedral metallofullerenes by ion-molecular reactions

Gas phase ion-molecular reactions of endohedral metallofullerenes with the self-chemical ionization ion system of vinyl acetate, benzene and acetone in the ion source of the mass spectrometer have been studied. Several derivatized endohedral metallofullerene cations [M@C-82-C2H3O](+), [M-2@C-80-C2H3O](+), [M@C-82-C6H6](+) and [M@C-82-CO-CH3](+) are observed as the major products. The experimental results indicate that endohedral metallofullerenes have active gas phase reactivities and can be efficiently derivatized by some small organic cations.

Crystallization behavior of a novel poly(aryl ether ketone): PEDEKmK

Isothermal melt and cold crystallization kinetics of PEDEKmK linked by meta-phenyl and biphenyl were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry in two temperature regions. Avrami analysis is used to describe the primary stages of the melt and cold crystallization, with exponent n = 2 and n = 4, respectively. The activation energies are -118 kJ/mol and 510 kJ/mol for crystallization from the melt and the glassy states, respectively. The equilibrium melting point T-m(0) is estimated to be 309 degrees C by using the Hoffman-Weeks approach, which compares favorably with determination from the Thomson-Gibbs method. The lateral and end surface free energies derived from the Lauritzen-Hoffman spherulitic growth rate equation are sigma = 8.45 erg/cm(2) and sigma(e) = 45.17 erg/cm(2), respectively. The work of chain folding q is determined as 3.06 kcal/mol. These observed crystallization characteristics of PEDEKmK are compared with those of the other members of poly(aryl ether ketone) family. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The structure of Aquifex aeolicus sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase, a basis to understand sulfide detoxification and respiration

Sulfide: quinone oxidoreductase (SQR) is a flavoprotein with homologues in all domains of life except plants. It plays a physiological role both in sulfide detoxification and in energy transduction. We isolated the protein from native membranes of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus, and we determined its X-ray structure in the "as-purified,'' substrate-bound, and inhibitor-bound forms at resolutions of 2.3, 2.0, and 2.9 angstrom, respectively. The structure is composed of 2 Rossmann domains and 1 attachment domain, with an overall monomeric architecture typical of disulfide oxidoreductase flavoproteins. A. aeolicus SQR is a surprisingly trimeric, periplasmic integral monotopic membrane protein that inserts about 12 angstrom into the lipidic bilayer through an amphipathic helix-turn-helix tripodal motif. The quinone is located in a channel that extends from the si side of the FAD to the membrane. The quinone ring is sandwiched between the conserved amino acids Phe-385 and Ile-346, and it is possibly protonated upon reduction via Glu-318 and/or neighboring water molecules. Sulfide polymerization occurs on the re side of FAD, where the invariant Cys-156 and Cys-347 appear to be covalently bound to polysulfur fragments. The structure suggests that FAD is covalently linked to the polypeptide in an unusual way, via a disulfide bridge between the 8-methyl group and Cys-124. The applicability of this disulfide bridge for transferring electrons from sulfide to FAD, 2 mechanisms for sulfide polymerization and channeling of the substrate, S2-, and of the product, S-n, in and out of the active site are discussed.

Discovery of the genes in response to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection in Fenneropenaeus chinensis through cDNA microarray

We used microarray technology to study differentially expressed genes in white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)-infected shrimp. A total of 3136 cDNA targets, including 1578 unique genes from a cephalothorax cDNA library and 1536 cDNA clones from reverse and forward suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) libraries of Fenneropenaeus chinensis, plus 14 negative and 8 blank control clones, were spotted onto a 18 x 18 mm area of NH2-modified glass slides. Gene expression patterns in the cephalothorax of shrimp at 6 h after WSSV injection and moribund shrimp naturally infected by WSSV were analyzed. A total of 105 elements on the arrays showed a similar regulation pattern in artificially infected shrimp and naturally infected moribund shrimp; parts of the results were confirmed by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The up-regulated expression of immune-related genes, including heat shock proteins (HSP70 and HSP90), trehalose-phosphate synthase (TPS), ubiquitin C, and so forth, were observed when shrimp were challenged with WSSV. Genes including myosin LC2, ATP synthase A chain, and arginine kinase were found to be down-regulated after WSSV infection. The expression of housekeeping genes such as actin, elongation factor, and tubulin is not stable, and so these genes are not suitable as internal standards for semiquantitative RT-PCR when shrimp are challenged by WSSV. As a substitute, we found that triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) was an ideal candidate of interstandards in this situation.

Predicting protein interaction interfaces from protein sequences: Case studies of subtilisin and phycocyanin

Identification of protein interaction interfaces is very important for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying biological phenomena. Here, we present a novel method for predicting protein interaction interfaces from sequences by using PAM matrix (PIFPAM). Sequence alignments for interacting proteins were constructed and parsed into segments using sliding windows. By calculating distance matrix for each segment, the correlation coefficients between segments were estimated. The interaction interfaces were predicted by extracting highly correlated segment pairs from the correlation map. The predictions achieved an accuracy 0.41-0.71 for eight intraprotein interaction examples, and 0.07-0.60 for four interprotein interaction examples. Compared with three previously published methods, PIFPAM predicted more contacting site pairs for 11 out of the 12 example proteins, and predicted at least 34% more contacting site pairs for eight proteins of them. The factors affecting the predictions were also analyzed. Since PIFPAM uses only the alignments of the two interacting proteins as input, it is especially useful when no three-dimensional protein structure data are available.

Grain-size records at ODP site 1146 from the northern South China sea: Implications on the east Asian monsoon evolution since 20 Ma

273 samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1146 in the northern South China Sea (SCS) were analyzed for grain-size distributions using grain-size class vs. standard deviation method and end-member modeling algorithm (EMMA) in order to investigate the evolution of the East Asian mon-soon since about 20 Ma. 10-19 mu m/1.3-2.4 mu m, the ratio of two grain-size populations with the highest variability through time was used to indicate East Asian winter monsoon intensity relative to summer monsoon. The mass accumulation rate of the coarsest end member EM1 (eolian), resulting from EMMA, can be used as a proxy of winter monsoon strength and Asian inland aridity, and the ratio of EM1/(EM2+EM3) as a proxy of winter monsoon intensity relative to summer monsoon. The combined proxies show that a profound enhancement of East Asian winter monsoon strength and winter monsoon intensity relative to summer monsoon occurred at about 8 Ma, and it is possible that the summer monsoon simultaneously intensified with winter monsoon at 3 Ma. Our results are well consistent with the previous studies in loess, eolian deposion in the Pacifc, radiolarians and planktonic foraminifera in the SCS. The phased uplift of the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau may have played a significant role in strengthening the Asian monsoon at 8 Ma and 3 Ma.

中国对虾、墨吉对虾和长毛对虾幼体及仔虾发育的比较研究

中国对虾，墨吉对虾和长毛对虾是我国近海渔业捕捞和养殖业中最重要的经济种。由于它们早期生活史阶段形态的极大相似性，尤其在三种对虾都有分布的南方海区，其幼体和仔虾的鉴别非常困难，因而影响到对虾早期生活史阶段生态补充和资源管理等的研究。本文报道了中国对虾，墨吉对虾和长毛对虾幼体及仔虾发育的形态变化及其比较研究结果，为有关研究提供了准确的种类鉴别依据，以便我国对虾资源补充研究及其合理的开发利用建立在更加科学的基础上，使捕捞产量保持持续增长。本文所依据的材料均为作者分别在厦门、湛江和青岛等地对虾育苗实验中亲自培育所获，通过对大量标本的观察、测量和比较研究，纠正了以往报道中的错误。中国对虾自第2期 状幼体开始就可以与其他2种相区别。其第2期 状幼体眼上刺不分叉，第3期 状幼体第1，2腹节背中刺较小，糠虾幼体5对步足外肢具较多的刚毛数（9根）；不同于墨吉对虾和长毛对虾（眼上刺双叉型，第1，2腹节背中刺较大，糠虾体阶段5对步足外肢8根刚毛）。墨吉对虾第1期 状幼体的L1/L2（图13，B）值较大（1.7-2.0），不同于中国对虾和长毛对虾者（L1/L2<1.7）。第1-5期仔虾时，中国对虾第3颚足和5对步足外肢刚毛数较多（第5期除外），头胸甲的触角刺一直存在；不同于墨吉对虾和长毛对虾。第6或7期仔虾开始3种对虾可以完全分开，其主要鉴别依据是中国对虾第1触角外鞭与内鞭的比值远大于墨吉对虾和长毛对虾，墨吉对虾额角与头胸甲长度的比值明显大于中国对虾和长毛对虾。从幼体和仔虾发育阶段的形态变化，清楚地表明墨吉对虾和长毛对虾有较近的亲缘关系，它们与中国对虾的亲缘关系较远。本文还比较了以上三种对虾与日本对虾及斑节对虾仔虾的不同描述了其幼体和仔虾色素细胞的发育。

一种抗缺氧保健食品组合物

本发明涉及一种抗缺氧保健食品组合物，该组合物是由红景天、螺旋藻、红花、枸杞制成；本发明具有丰富的营养成分、抗缺氧功能突出，适宜于高原缺氧性缺氧症、机体免疫力和抵抗力低下，且无毒、无副作用。

旋转轴对称介质中的qP波一阶射线追踪

Elastic anisotropy is a very common phenomenon in the Earth’s interior, especial for sedimentary rock as important gas and oil reservoirs. But in the processing and interpretation of seismic data, it is assumption that the media in the Earth’s interior is completely elastic and isotropic, and then the methods based on isotropy are used to deal with anisotropic seismic data, so it makes the seismic resolution lower and the error on images is caused. The research on seismic wave simulation technology can improve our understanding on the rules of seismic wave propagation in anisotropic media, and it can help us to resolve problems caused by anisotropy of media in the processing and interpretation of seismic data. So researching on weakly anisotropic media with rotated axis of symmetry, we study systematically the rules of seismic wave propagation in this kind of media, simulate the process with numerical calculation, and get the better research results. The first-order ray tracing (FORT) formulas of qP wave derived can adapt to every anisotropic media with arbitrary symmetry. The equations are considerably simpler than the exact ray tracing equations. The equations allow qP waves to be treated independently from qS waves, just as in isotropic media. They simplify considerably in media with higher symmetry anisotropy. In isotropic media, they reduce to the exact ray tracing equations. In contrast to other perturbation techniques used to trace rays in weakly anisotropic media, our approach does not require calculation of reference rays in a reference isotropic medium. The FORT-method rays are obtained directly. They are computationally more effective than standard ray tracing equations. Moreover the second-order travel time corrections formula derived can be used to reduce effectively the travel time error, and improve the accuracy of travel time calculation. The tensor transformation equations of weak-anisotropy parameters in media with rotated axis of symmetry derived from the Bond transformation equations resolve effectively the problems of coordinate transformation caused by the difference between global system of coordinate and local system of coordinate. The calculated weak-anisotropy parameters are completely suitable to the first-order ray tracing used in this paper, and their forms are simpler than those from the Bond transformation. In the numerical simulation on ray tracing, we use the travel time table calculation method that the locations of the grids in the ray beam are determined, then the travel times of the grids are obtained by the reversed distance interpolation. We get better calculation efficiency and accuracy by this method. Finally we verify the validity and adaptability of this method used in this paper with numerical simulations for the rotated TI model with anisotropy of about 8% and the rotated ORTHO model with anisotropy of about 20%. The results indicate that this method has better accuracy for both media with different types and different anisotropic strength. Keywords: weak-anisotropy, numerical simulation, ray tracing equation, travel time, inhomogeneity

贵州万山汞矿区土壤汞污染现状的初步调查

运用AAS和GC-CVAFS法分别测定了贵州万山汞矿区表层土壤中的总汞(THg)和甲基汞(MeHg),探讨了土壤中THg和MeHg的含量分布特征:矿区土壤THg和MeHg含量分别为1.1～790 mg/kg和0.13～15 μg/kg;对照区土壤THg和MeHg含量分别为0.10～1.2 mg/kg和0.10～0.28 μg/kg.矿区不同耕作类型土壤中,稻田和菜地土壤MeHg含量明显高于旱田土壤.

黔东南锦屏金矿成矿模式的模拟实验

利用中国科学院地球化学研究所矿床地球化学国家重点实验室的实验设备对黔东南锦屏金矿进行了成矿模式的模拟实验。通过剪切实验，变形、破裂实验，成矿物质活化、迁移实验。成矿模式模拟实验和多次应力实验，获得了成矿物质以碎粒流和塑性流动的方式顺层及穿层充填并在褶曲核部富集的结果。多次应力实验使成矿物质叠加富集。实验结果初步证实了锦屏石英脉金矿的成矿模式，为该区构造控制金矿提供了重要的实验资料，也为今后研究该区金矿的成矿规律和找矿提供了有益的信息.