We study the asymptotic behaviour of convective heat transfer for turbulent flows in high-porosity fluid-saturated media by two-dimensional high-resolution numerical simulation. The generalized Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible fluid flow and the heat transport equation in porous media at the representative element volume scale are solved by the lattice Boltzmann method, wherein the non-Darcian effects are taken into consideration. The asymptotic behaviour of the Nusselt number $N$ has been revealed for Rayleigh numbers $10^4\leq R\leq 10^{11}$ and Darcy numbers $10^{-6}\leq \xi \leq 10^6$: all the data for various Darcy numbers gradually collapse onto a unique line with increasing Rayleigh number. The asymptote can be well represented by $N=0.146\times R^{0.286}$ for $R>2\times 10^7$, which approaches the relationship for the Rayleigh–Bénard turbulent convection of free fluid flows. The transition can be characterized by a scaling analysis with $R^{}\xi ^{3/2}\sim 1$, below which, however, the data collapse onto the Darcy limit for porous media. The Reynolds number and the Nusselt number both increase with Darcy number above the onset of convection, whereas a premature saturation of the Nusselt number is observed in comparison with that of the Reynolds number. The counter-gradient heat transport by the large-scale flows is quantified, which compensates for the increase of the gradient heat transport with Darcy number. The heat transfer in high-porosity fluid-saturated media with a very small Darcy number $\xi \geq 10^{-6}$ can be comparable to that of free fluid flows for a sufficiently high Rayleigh number $R\geq 10^{11}$.

Several divergent sympatry mtDNA lineages have been described in redlip mullet Liza haematocheilus, and this high inter-lineage divergence raises questions about the taxonomic status of L. haematocheilus lineages in the north-western Pacific. In this study, the amplified fragment length polymorphism technique was employed to examine genetic structure of L. haematocheilus and estimate the level of independence of the different mtDNA lineages in the north-western Pacific. A total of 186 bands were amplified from 91 individuals among 8 populations by 4 primer combinations and the percentage of polymorphic bands was 91.74%. The Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean tree based on Nei genetic distance revealed two clusters (North Clade and South Clade). Molecular variance analysis and pairwise FST supported the separation of north and south populations of L. haematocheilus in the north-western Pacific. The incongruence between nuclear groups and mitochondrial lineages suggests the three distinct lineages do not represent cryptic species and the presence of divergent mitochondrial lineages in the same sample is a result of secondary contact after an extended period of isolation. The Pleistocene isolation and biological characteristics of species may be responsible for the genetic differentiation of L. haematocheilus.

This paper introduces a plan to detect turbulence profiles at Dome A with a Single Star Scidar (SSS), to enhance our understanding of the characteristics of the site. The development of a portable monitor for profiling vertical atmospheric optical turbulence and wind speed is presented. By analyzing the spatial auto and cross-correlation functions of very short exposure images of single star scintillation patterns, the SSS can provide the vertical profiles of turbulence intensity C2n(h) and wind speed V(h). A SSS prototype is already operational at Ali in Tibet which will be improved in order to become fully robotic and adapted to extreme weather conditions that prevail at Dome A in Antarctica.

Iron oxides, including maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4), have been widely applied in many fields. For technological advances in the future, further improvements of their ferromagnetic properties are desirable. The development of iron ferrites with a large coercive field (Hc) is one of issues of consequence. For ferrites, however, enlarging the Hc value is not easy because of their low magnetocrystalling anisotropy constant. Here we report single-crystalline Cu-doped γ-Fe2O3 nanowires in which the controlled diameter (70–100 nm) and the graded Cu dopant (7, 10, and 15%) are directly obtained by a simple chemical vapor deposition technique. In particular, the coercive value (over 2 T) of 10% Cu-doped γ-Fe2O3 nanowires is much higher than that (<80 Oe) of undoped γ-Fe2O3 nanowires at room temperature. On the basis of the experimental magnetization data, the achievement of such a higher coercive field of Cu-doped γ-Fe2O3 (10%) nanowires is tentatively suggested.

A novel scheme for the fabrication of SiGe-on-insulator (SGOI) substrates comprising a thin and relaxed silicon-germanium (SiGe) layer with high Ge mole fraction is reported. A cyclical thermal oxidation and annealing (CTOA) process is introduced to alleviate issues associated with surface roughening and non-uniformity in Ge content. A systematic study of the stress developed in the SiGe layer as condensation takes place is presented. A clear understanding of the strain evolution enables the SGOI substrate fabrication to be tailored according to the requirements of strain engineering in high mobility MOSFETs.

In vitro development of goat embryos obtained by fertilizing oocytes using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was investigated. The results showed that the blastocyst rate was significantly higher (P<0.05) when the embryos were co-cultured with granular cells (GCs) in media CR1aa supplemented with 10% bovine follicular fluid (BFF) (22.2%) than with 5% (13.1%) and 15% BFF (2.7%). When embryos were co-cultured with GCs in SOFaa media, the highest blastocyst rate was obtained from supplementation with 10% BFF (25.1%), which was significantly different from 5% (12.9%) and 15% BFF (3.0%) groups. When 10% BFF and fetus bovine serum (FBS) were added into CR1aa or SOFaa media, the goat ICSI blastocyst rates were 22.6 and 26.9% or 5.8 and 6.1% respectively. These results suggest that both CR1aa and SOFaa could be used as culture media for goat ICSI embryos, 10% BFF could significantly increase the blastocyst rate and BFF was more efficient than FBS for the early in vitro development of goat ICSI embryos.

Three-dimensional temperature (T)–pressure (P)–composition (X) phase diagrams of binary carbon-hydrogen (C–H) and carbon-oxygen (C–O) systems for activated low pressure diamond growth have been calculated. Based on an approximation of linear combination between C–H and C–O systems, a projective ternary carbonhydrogen-oxygen (C–H–O) phase diagram has also been obtained. There is always a diamond growth region in each of these phase diagrams. Once a supply of external activating energy stops, the diamond growth region will not exist. Nearly all of the reliable experimental data reported in the literature drop into the possible diamond growth region of the calculated projective ternary C–H–O phase diagram under the conditions of 0.01–100 kPa and above 700 K.

The activated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond process became one of the worldwide interesting projects in the 1980s. The basic question is why diamond can grow under activated low pressure conditions. The driving force of the transformation from graphite to diamond under low pressure is coming from a coupled reaction of the association of superequilibrium atomic hydrogen. The thermodynamic coupling effect in the activated CVD process is different from the catalyst effect in the high pressure, catalyst-assisted process for the artificial diamond growth.