In 2008 January the 24th Chinese expedition team successfully deployed the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) to Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. CSTAR consists of four 14.5cm optical telescopes, each with a different filter (g, r, i and open) and has a 4.5°×4.5° field of view (FOV). Based on the CSTAR data, initial statistics of astronomical observational site quality and light curves of variable objects were obtained. To reach higher photometric quality, we are continuing to work to overcome the effects of uneven cirrus cloud cirrus, optical “ghosts” and intra-pixel sensitivity. The snow surface stability is also tested for further astronomical observational instrument and for glaciology studies.

The morphology and infraciliature of an endoparasitic ciliate, Boveria labialis, isolated from respiratory trees of the sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, were investigated using living observation and silver impregnation methods. Based on the present and previous studies, an improved diagnosis is supplied: marine Boveria, size in vivo about 30–100×15–30 μm, body slender and flask-shaped, with a protruding lobe measuring 5–15 μm in length; one ovoid macronucleus and one micronucleus; single contractile vacuole positioned in posterior 1¼ of body length; 17–26 somatic kineties; paroral membrane and membranelle 2 forming a double anticlockwise spiral of nearly two turns.

The wear behavior of bulk Zr41Ti14Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 metallic glasses has been studiedusing sliding wear tests and scanning electron microscopy in both as-prepared and annealed samples. It was found that the wear resistance of differently processed samples increases in the following order: crystallized state; as-prepared state; relaxed state. The thermal stability of worn samples was also investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry. Under the experiment conditions, no sliding wear-induced crystallization is observed in either as-prepared or relaxed samples indicating good thermal stability of the bulk metallic glasses.