A detailed history of volcanism covering the last 2840 years is reconstructed from the top 100.42 m of a 109.91 m ice core from Dome A (DA2005 ice core), East Antarctica. Using two known volcanic stratigraphic markers, the mean accumulation rate during the period AD 1260-1964 is found to be 23.2 mmw.e. a-1, consistent with the previously reported accumulation rate at Dome A. This mean accumulation rate is used to date the entire core. Volcanic eruptions in the period 840 BC-AD1998 are detected as outstanding sulphate events. Seventy-eight eruptions are identified, with a mean of 2.7 eruptions per century. Comparisons with previous Antarctic ice-core volcanic records are made to assess the quality of this new DA2005 record. In terms of dates for volcanic events, the DA2005 record is in good agreement with previous records in the second millennium ad (ad 1000-1998). A series of volcanic signatures found in both the DA2005 record and several other Antarctic ice-core records in the first millennium ad (ad 1-1000) appear to validate the DA2005 record during this time period. For the older periods, direct comparisons are difficult between the DA2005 record and other Antarctic ice-core records due to the lack of well-dated stratigraphic horizons.

Radio continuum surveys are equally sensitive to all pulsars, not affected by dispersion measure smearing, scattering or orbital modulation of spin periods, and therefore allow us to search for extreme pulsars, such as sub-millisecond pulsars, pulsar-black hole systems and pulsars in the Galactic Centre. As we move towards the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) era, searching for pulsars in continuum images will complement conventional pulsar searches, and make it possible to find extreme objects.

Given a smooth minimal surface F: Ω → ℝ3 defined on a simply connected region Ω in the complex plane ℂ, there is a regular SG circle pattern . By the Weierstrass representation of F and the existence theorem of SG circle patterns, there exists an associated SG circle pattern in ℂ with the combinatoric of . Based on the relationship between the circle pattern and the corresponding discrete minimal surface F∊ : → ℝ3 defined on the vertex set of the graph of , we show that there exists a family of discrete minimal surface Γ∊: → ℝ3, which converges in C∞(Ω) to the minimal surface F: Ω → ℝ3 as ∊ → 0.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2), a widely used inorganic semiconductor owing to its superb photoelectric properties, has frequently been fabricated into composites to reduce its relatively large band gap and overcome its limited visible light absorption. In this article, a “layer-by-layer” method has been developed to prepare the composite structure of nitrogen (N)-doped graphene quantum dots (GQDs)-sensitized TiO2 nanofibers. The as-prepared structure shows considerable luminescence and exhibits excellent photoelectric properties. Various factors including the crystalline phase of TiO2, amount of N in GQDs, and irradiation wavelength were investigated to find the optimal conditions for enhanced photoelectric activity. It is demonstrated that the combination of highest N amount GQDs with TiO2 nanofibers of mixed phases (750 °C-sintered TiO2 nanofibers) possess the best photoelectric properties. The enhancement of properties using TiO2 nanofibers with mixed phases mainly contributes to the transfer of electrons between conduction bands of different phases in TiO2 and the distinctive photoluminescence (PL) property of N-GQDs. Furthermore, this enhancement can be achieved in most areas of the visible light range. The general mechanism of the electron generation and transfer of the structure is based on the normal PL and upconversion PL property of N-GQDs which serve as the sensitizer. We consider it a feasible method to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency in photovoltaic devices.

Although pear species (Pyrus spp.) are widely cultivated as an important fruit tree in the world, the regulatory mechanism of their seed dormancy is still unclear. In this research, the role of endocarp, seed coat and embryo in sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) seed dormancy was analysed by detecting the endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) and analysing germination experiments with different treatments. The results suggest that a combination of testa and embryo impose sand pear seed dormancy. The high concentration of endogenous ABA in the embryo effectively inhibited seed germination. The high concentration of ABA in the endocarp, as well as in the testa, suggests that dissipation and/or degradation of endogenous ABA in imbibed embryos were suppressed to maintain ABA-inhibited germination. The ABA and gibberellic acid (GA) key signalling genes, including ABI3–5, GAI, RGA and RGL2, were cloned and their expression was analysed in ABA-treated embryos and embryos of imbibed nutlets, imbibed true seeds (endocarp removed) and GA-treated true seeds. The results revealed regulation by ABA of the expression of ABA and GA signalling factors controlling the dormancy release of sand pear imbibed seeds.

The aim of the present study was to examine the association between dietary patterns and insulin resistance in Chinese adults without known diabetes. Study subjects were 1070 Chinese adults aged 18 years and above in Jiangsu Province who participated in the 2006 wave of the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Usual dietary intake was assessed by using a validated FFQ. Dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis using a principal component analysis method. Insulin resistance was defined as the highest quartile of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) scores. We derived four dietary patterns in our population by factor analysis: the Western, High-wheat, Traditional and Hedonic pattern. After adjusted for potential confounders, the Western pattern was significantly associated with greater odds for insulin resistance (P for trend = 0·009), while a significant negative association was found between the Hedonic pattern and insulin resistance (P for trend = 0·035). Compared with the lowest quartile of the Western pattern, the highest quartile had higher odds of insulin resistance (adjusted OR 1·89, 95 % CI 1·12, 3·19). There was a 42 % decrease in the odds after adjustment for all covariates in the highest quartile of the Hedonic pattern, compared with the lowest quartile (adjusted OR 0·58, 95 % CI 0·34, 0·99). HOMA-IR levels as a continuous variable also increased across the quartiles of the Western pattern and decreased across the quartiles of the Hedonic pattern. In conclusion, dietary patterns were significantly associated with insulin resistance in Chinese adults without known diabetes.

We propose to determine the mass of isolated neutron stars through gravitational microlensing. We show that the all-sky microlensing pulsar event rate is ~2.8 × 10−10 per year per background source (/yr/source). Microlensing neutron star event rate would contribute ~20% to the total Galactic event rate at time-scale of ~15 days. We also present catalogue comparisons between known pulsars and background stars. We find that several pulsars would pass by background stars closely and may cause observable astrometric microlensing phenomenon. According to our covariance analysis, the uncertainty of masses determined through astrometric microlensing could be ~20%. Therefore, gravitational microlensing is a promising way to determine the mass of isolated neutron stars with future advanced radio and optical telescopes.

Polycrystalline solutions of 0.6(Bi0.9La0.1)FeO3-0.4Pb(Ti1-xMnx)O3(BLF-PTM, x=0 and 0.01)have been fabricated by the so-gel process combined with a solid state reaction method. BLF-PTM exhibits the nonlinear dielectric and piezoelectric responses under applied fields. Rayleigh law has been used to evaluate the irreversible contribution of the domain walls movement to the nonlinear dielectric response. Rayleigh analysis reveals that a mechanism with no associated loss exists in the BLF-PTM of x=0.01. The real part piezoelectric coefficient of BLF-PTM linearly increases with increasing the electric fields. The dielectric and piezoelectric nonlinear coefficient of 0.17×10-3 m/V and 0.897 ×10-17 m2/V2 respectively are obtained for BLF-PTM of x=0.01,which are smaller than those of 0.22×10-3 m/V and 1.19 ×10-17 m2/V2 for BLF-PTM of x=0. Our results indicate that Mn doping increase the intrinsic piezoelectric properties of BLF-PTM reducing the extrinsic contributions to piezoelectric responses.

Undoped Bi2FeCrO6, 5%Ti- and 10%La-doped Bi2FeCrO6 were prepared by a high pressure solid-state sintering method. The phase structure, electrical, ferroelectric and magnetic properties have been investigated. It is shown that undoped Bi2FeCrO6 has a serious leakage current problem, and doping either Ti or La can enhance the resistivity by 2-3 orders of magnitude. Furthermore, both Ti- and La-doped Bi2FeCrO6 show an antiferromagnetic spin order due to disordered B-site cation alignment. Weak ferromagnetism was only observed in undoped Bi2FeCrO6 and the reason is tentatively explained.

This paper deals with the hydration products and pore structure of Portland cement (PC) and alkali-phosphorus slag cement (APSC) pastes, and the uptake of metal ions (Sr2+, Co2+, Cd2+, and Cu2+) in pastes which have been hydrated at 150°C for 25 days. Results indicate that the hydration products of PC are crystalline Ca(OH)2 and C2SH(A); for APSC the products are poorly crystallized low-basic CSH(B) and crystalline tobermorite. The PC pastes have a lower total porosity than APSC pastes, but the PC pastes consist mainly of larger pores with r> 1000Å, while the APSC pastes consist mainly of smaller pores with r< 100Å. The two types of paste were immersed for 19 days at room temperature in Sr2+, Co2+, Cd2+ and Cu2+ solutions with concentrations of 100, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm. It was found that all Ca(OH)2, in the PC pastes was dissolved. Except for Sr2+, the uptake of metal ions by PC paste is mainly due to the formation of insoluble hydroxides. The uptake of metal ions by APSC pastes is due to physical adsorption and the formation of some insoluble compounds. The APSC pastes show a stable structure after immersion in these metal ion solutions.

We report a direct experiment evidence for holes and electrons charging in a new nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si) floating gate structure (SiO2/nc-Si/SiO2/c-Si) fabricated in-situ by plasma oxidation and layer by layer deposition technique in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system. In this nc-Si floating gate structures, the thickness of tunneling SiO2 layer is about 2 nm and the mean grain size of nc-Si is 6 nm obtained from Raman scattering and AFM measurements. The discrete quantum level and Coulomb charging energy for a single electron have been observed in large ensemble of nc-Si dots by frequency dependent capacitance spectroscopy, which demonstrates that the Coulomb blockade for electron in nc-Si dots is larger than size fluctuation effects on the quantum confinement for our nc-Si floating gate structure. Quantitatively, the experiment results of capacitance spectroscopy are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations. By contrasted with silicon single electron transistor memory made by using ultra fancy nanotechnology, nc-Si based memory can be fabricated with a minimum perturbation of conventional silicon technology and may be closest to industrial application.

Mid-infrared vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) using PbSe as the active material and broadband high reflectivity Pb1−xSrxSe/BaF 2 distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) as bottom and top mirrors were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. By pulsed optical pumping, this first IV-VI semiconductor VCSEL operated up to 290K at a wavelength of 4.5 µm. Further optimization of such VCSELs could lead to room temperature continuos wave operation.

As has been discussed, research on the electronic structure between organic and inorganic atoms in hybrid compounds has become important. In our study, DV—Xα method was employed to calculate the electronic structure of the hybrid compound. The information obtained from the calculation included orbit charge, bonding order, Fermi energy, density of the state, etc. The influence of organic and inorganic parts on the energy band structure of the hybrid compound was discussed based on the calculation results of Fermi energy and density of state. The chemical bonding between organic and inorganic parts in the hybrid compound was also analyzed in detail according to the orbital charges and bond orders.

The aim of the present study was to examine the association between dietary patterns and weight change prospectively. We followed up 1231 adults aged 20 years and older (mean age 49·3 years) from 2002 to 2007. Food intake was assessed at baseline by an FFQ. Factor analysis was used to identify dietary patterns. Nutrient intake was measured by food weighing plus consecutive individual 3 d food records. Body weight and height were measured. The mean 5-year weight gain among all participants was 0·8 (sd 4·7) kg. The mean weight changes across quartiles of the ‘traditional’ pattern (rice, fresh vegetables, pork and wheat flour) were 2·0, 0·6, 0·6 and 0·0 kg. The corresponding values were 0·4, 0·5, 0·7 and 1·6 kg across quartiles of the ‘vegetable-rich’ pattern. No significant association between the ‘macho’ dietary pattern (meat and alcohol), the ‘sweet tooth’ pattern (drinks and cake) and weight gain was found. In multivariate linear regression, using the first quartile as the reference, participants in the highest quartile of the ‘traditional’ pattern had a β of − 2·18 (95 % CI − 2·91, − 1·45) for weight gain. However, the β from weight change of the highest quartile of the ‘vegetable-rich’ pattern was 1·00 (95 % CI 0·25, 1·74). In conclusion, the ‘traditional’ dietary pattern was negatively and the ‘vegetable-rich’ pattern was positively associated with weight gain in Chinese adults.

Animal studies and one large cross-sectional study of 752 healthy Chinese men and women suggest that monosodium glutamate (MSG) may be associated with overweight/obesity, and these findings raise public concern over the use of MSG as a flavour enhancer in many commercial foods. The aim of this analysis was to investigate a possible association between MSG intake and obesity, and determine whether a greater MSG intake is associated with a clinically significant weight gain over 5 years. Data from 1282 Chinese men and women who participated in the Jiangsu Nutrition Study were analysed. In the present study, MSG intake and body weight were quantitatively assessed in 2002 and followed up in 2007. MSG intake was not associated with significant weight gain after adjusting for age, sex, multiple lifestyle factors and energy intake. When total glutamate intake was added to the model, an inverse association between MSG intake and 5 % weight gain was found (P = 0·028), but when the model was adjusted for either rice intake or food patterns, this association was abolished. These findings indicate that when other food items or dietary patterns are accounted for, no association exists between MSG intake and weight gain.