Lipid tubules: a paradigm for molecularly engineered structures

The use of molecular self-assembly to fabricate microstructures suitable for advanced material development is described. Templating techniques that transform biomolecular self-assemblies into rugged and stable nano- and microstructures are described. By using a lipid-based microcylinder (tubule) as a paradigm, the path followed from research and development to emerging technological applications is detailed. This process includes modification of the lipid molecular structure, the formation and subsequent characterization of cylindrical microstructures, the use of these structures as templates for metallization, and the characterization and assessment of these hollow metal microcylinders for several potential applications.     

Studying atomic structures by aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy

Seventy-five years after its invention, transmission electron microscopy has taken a great step forward with the introduction of aberration-corrected electron optics. An entirely new generation of instruments enables studies in condensed-matter physics and materials science to be performed at atomic-scale resolution. These new possibilities are meeting the growing demand of nanosciences and nanotechnology for the atomic-scale characterization of materials, nanosynthesized products and devices, and the validation of expected functions. Equipped with electron-energy filters and electron-energy-loss spectrometers, the new instruments allow studies not only of structure but also of elemental composition and chemical bonding. The energy resolution is about 100 milli-electron volts, and the accuracy of spatial measurements has reached a few picometers. However, understanding the results is generally not straightforward and only possible with extensive quantum-mechanical computer calculations.     

Domain structures in langmuir-blodgett films investigated by atomic force microscopy

Investigations of phase-separated Langmuir-Blodgett films by atomic force microscopy reveal that on a scale of 30 to 200 micrometers, these images resemble those observed by fluorescence microscopy. Fine structures (less than 1 micrometer) within the stearic acid domains were observed, which cannot be seen by conventional optical microscopic techniques. By applying the force modulation technique, it was found that the elastic properties of the domains in the liquid condensed phase and grains observed within the liquid expanded phase were comparable. Small soft residues in the domains could also be detected. The influence of trace amounts of a fluorescence dye on the micromorphology of monolayers could be detected on transferred films.     

Spin label studies in chlamydomonas

When spin label is added to Chlamydomonas the organism is apparently unaffected, but the paramagnetic resonance signal of the spin label decreases. Irradiation with visible light greatly accelerates this decrease, which is partially reversible. If the cells are grown in the presence of the spin label and washed well, no spin label signal is detectable. However, such cells can no longer catalyze the destruction of added spin label in the light. This finding sug- gests that the molecule is bound to a specific site, which undergoes a change in conformation with illumination.     

Cost-benefit tradeoffs in engineered lac operons

Cells must balance the cost and benefit of protein expression to optimize organismal fitness. The lac operon of the bacterium Escherichia coli has been a model for quantifying the physiological impact of costly protein production and for elucidating the resulting regulatory mechanisms. We report quantitative fitness measurements in 27 redesigned operons that suggested that protein production is not the primary origin of fitness costs. Instead, we discovered that the lac permease activity, which relates linearly to cost, is the major physiological burden to the cell. These findings explain control points in the lac operon that minimize the cost of lac permease activity, not protein expression. Characterizing similar relationships in other systems will be important to map the impact of cost/benefit tradeoffs on cell physiology and regulation.     

Holes in a Quantum Spin Liquid

Magnetic neutron scattering provides evidence for nucleation of antiferromagnetic droplets around impurities in a doped nickel oxide-based quantum magnet. The undoped parent compound contains a spin liquid with a cooperative singlet ground state and a gap in the magnetic excitation spectrum. Calcium doping creates excitations below the gap with an incommensurate structure factor. We show that weakly interacting antiferromagnetic droplets with a central phase shift of pi and a size controlled by the correlation length of the quantum liquid can account for the data. The experiment provides a quantitative impression of the magnetic polarization cloud associated with holes in a doped transition metal oxide.     

Spin susceptibility scaling in high-temperature superconductors

The spin response of a nested Fermi surface represented by a tight binding energy band is found to exhibit scaling in frequency divided by temperature within a restricted regime close to half-filling of the band. Computations of the spin susceptibility reveal a surprising momentum variation at various temperatures and frequencies. Neutron scattering data on the high-temperature superconductor YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6+x) are analyzed for scaling near a momentum vector that spans nested regions of the orbit. Changes in the Fermi energy remove the scaling properties and reduce the susceptibility to the conventional Fermi liquid behavior of ordinary metals. These results imply that pairing mechanisms of superconductivity need to cope with competing spin density wave and charge density wave instabilities.     

Step-by-step engineered multiparticle entanglement

After quantum particles have interacted, they generally remain in an entangled state and are correlated at a distance by quantum-mechanical links that can be used to transmit and process information in nonclassical ways. This implies programmable sequences of operations to generate and analyze the entanglement of complex systems. We have demonstrated such a procedure for two atoms and a single-photon cavity mode, engineering and analyzing a three-particle entangled state by a succession of controlled steps that address the particles individually. This entangling procedure can, in principle, operate on larger numbers of particles, opening new perspectives for fundamental tests of quantum theory.     

Spin Hall effect transistor

The field of semiconductor spintronics explores spin-related quantum relativistic phenomena in solid-state systems. Spin transistors and spin Hall effects have been two separate leading directions of research in this field. We have combined the two directions by realizing an all-semiconductor spin Hall effect transistor. The device uses diffusive transport and operates without electrical current in the active part of the transistor. We demonstrate a spin AND logic function in a semiconductor channel with two gates. Our study shows the utility of the spin Hall effect in a microelectronic device geometry, realizes the spin transistor with electrical detection directly along the gated semiconductor channel, and provides an experimental tool for exploring spin Hall and spin precession phenomena in an electrically tunable semiconductor layer.     

Spin crossover in a catenane supramolecular system

The compound [Fe(tvp)(2)(NCS)(2)] . CH(3)OH, where tvp is 1,2-di-(4-pyridyl)-ethylene, has been synthesized and characterized by x-ray single-crystal diffraction. It consists of two perpendicular, two-dimensional networks organized in parallel stacks of sheets made up of edge-shared [Fe(II)](4) rhombuses. The fully interlocked networks define large square channels in the [001] direction. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements and M?ssbauer studies reveal that this compound shows low-spin to high-spin crossover behavior in the temperature range from 100 to 250 kelvin. The combined structural and magnetic characterization of this kind of compound is fundamental for the interpretation of the mechanism leading to the spin crossover, which is important in the development of electronic devices such as molecular switches.     

Spin transition zone in Earth's lower mantle

Mineral properties in Earth's lower mantle are affected by iron electronic states, but representative pressures and temperatures have not yet been probed. Spin states of iron in lower-mantle ferropericlase have been measured up to 95 gigapascals and 2000 kelvin with x-ray emission in a laser-heated diamond cell. A gradual spin transition of iron occurs over a pressure-temperature range extending from about 1000 kilometers in depth and 1900 kelvin to 2200 kilometers and 2300 kelvin in the lower mantle. Because low-spin ferropericlase exhibits higher density and faster sound velocities relative to the high-spin ferropericlase, the observed increase in low-spin (Mg,Fe)O at mid-lower mantle conditions would manifest seismically as a lower-mantle spin transition zone characterized by a steeper-than-normal density gradient.     

论基因工程化食品安全性

基因工程化食品安全性在我国还是个新论题，文中从生物体内细胞的基因所含有的控制信息多重性和复杂性的角度，论述对控制信息结构及作用的困难性和局限性，论证了基因重组引起遗传基因变异的可能性，并通过实例，进一步证实遗传基因变异及控制给人类带来的危害，启发人们对基因工程化食品安全性加以关注。     

纺字考

纺是将丝加工为纱线,是织的基础。纺字从丝从方,丝是纺的意义范畴,方为声兼意符。方有合并之意,纺的并若干根丝为纱线之意即从此出。而先秦文献中纺有下垂、悬吊之意,这种用法实由纺纱引申而来。在纺车出现以前,以纺轮纺线,丝线通过拈杆悬吊纺轮,搓动纺轮旋转,将数根丝合并在一起加捻成一股,成为供织造用的纱线。对纺字意义的考释有利于正确理解原始的纺织工具及使用方法。     

Electronically induced atom motion in engineered CoCun nanostructures

We have measured the quantum yield for exciting the motion of a single Co atom in CoCu(n) linear molecules constructed on a Cu(111) surface. The Co atom switched between two lattice positions during electron excitation from the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. The tip location with highest probability for inducing motion was consistent with the position of an active state identified through electronic structure calculations. Atom motion within the molecule decreased with increased molecular length and reflected the corresponding variation in electronic structure.     

江苏城市土地利用结构及其效率与城市化耦合协调性测度与评估

以江苏省13个地级市为研究区,综合运用信息熵、非期望产出的SBM窗式分析模型与因子分析法,测度城市土地利用结构的有序度、土地利用效率与城市化水平;在此基础上,运用耦合协调度模型,评估土地利用结构、效率与城市化水平耦合协调度的时空分异特征。结果表明:1)江苏城市土地利用结构、土地利用效率与城市化的耦合水平处于低水平耦合和拮抗阶段,协调水平以勉强协调类型为主;两者呈波动增长的趋势,提升潜力较大。2)江苏城市土地利用结构、土地利用效率与城市化的耦合协调度分布呈较大的空间分异特征,耦合度高及协调度高的区域主要集中于江苏南部地区;2006—2017年耦合度及协调度呈现逐渐增加的态势,空间演变特征明显。本研究可为江苏省制定城市可持续发展规划及城市产业政策提供参考。