Research of the active reflector antenna using laser angle metrology system

Active reflector is one of the key technologies for constructing large telescopes, especially for the millimeter/sub-millimeter radio telescopes. This article introduces a new efficient laser angle metrology system for the active reflector antenna of the large radio telescopes, with a plenty of active reflector experiments mainly about the detecting precisions and the maintaining of the surface shape in real time, on the 65-meter radio telescope prototype constructed by Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology (NIAOT). The test results indicate that the accuracy of the surface shape segmenting and maintaining is up to micron dimension, and the time-response can be of the order of minutes. Therefore, it is proved to be workable for the sub-millimeter radio telescopes.Comment: 10 pages, 15 figure

Di-μ-cyanido-1:2κ2 C:N,2:3κ2 N:C-hexa­cyanido-1κ3 C,3κ3 C-tetra­kis(1,10-phenanthroline)-1κ2 N,N′;2κ4 N,N′;3κ2 N,N′-1,3-dicobalt(III)-2-iron(II) tetra­hydrate

The hydro­thermal reaction of CoCl2·6H2O, 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and K3[Fe(CN)6] in deionized water yielded the title cyanide-bridged trinuclear cluster, [Co2Fe(CN)8(C12H8N2)4]·4H2O or [{CoIII(phen)(CN)4}2{FeII(phen)2}]·4H2O, which contains two CoIII centers and one FeII center linked by cyanide bridges. The combination of coordinative bonds, O—H⋯N and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.630 (2) Å] results in the stabilization of a supra­molecular structure. All uncoordinated water molecules are disordered. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals that the title complex loses the four crystal water mol­ecules at about 333 K, then the anhydrous phase loses no further mass up to about 573 K, above which decomposition occurs

Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009

The Tibetan Plateau is regarded as one of the most climatic-sensitive regions all over the world. Long-term remote sensing data enable us to monitor spatial-temporal change in this area. The vegetation changes of the western Nyainqentanglha region were detected by using RS and GIS techniques. And the vegetation coverage was derived by the NDVI-SMA (spectral mixture analysis) methods. An incensement of vegetation was observed in the mountain areas during 1972–2009 with a mean vegetation coverage of 24.87%, 35.89%, and 42.88% in 30/09/1972, 14/09/1991, and 30/08/2009, respectively. The vegetation fraction increased by 18% in the period of 1972–2009. The bin with the elevation between 4400 and 5200 m had the highest vegetation coverage. This may be the result of the mountain effect. Alpine vegetation had a trend to increase and expand to higher altitudes with the climate change in the past 40 years. The variation appears to be associated with an increase in mean temperature of 0.05°C per year and an increase in precipitation of 1.83 mm per year in the growing season of the past four decades. The results provide further evidence of alpine ecosystem change due to climate change in the central Tibetan Plateau

Generalized Young equation for a spherical droplet inside a smooth and homogeneous cone involved by quadratic parabola

We thermodynamically investigate the wetting characteristics of a spherical droplet in a smooth and homogeneous cone rotated by the quadratic parabola through the mechanisms of both Gibbs’s dividing surfaces and Rusanov’s dividing line. For the triple phase system including the solid, liquid and vapor phases, the derivation of a generalized Young equation containing the influences of the line tension is successfully carried out. Additionally, we as well analyze various approximate forms for this generalized Young equation by using the corresponding assumptions

Microbial network for waste activated sludge cascade utilization in an integrated system of microbial electrolysis and anaerobic fermentation

Background: Bioelectrochemical systems have been considered a promising novel technology that shows an enhanced energy recovery, as well as generation of value-added products. A number of recent studies suggested that an enhancement of carbon conversion and biogas production can be achieved in an integrated system of microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) and anaerobic digestion (AD) for waste activated sludge (WAS). Microbial communities in integrated system would build a thorough energetic and metabolic interaction network regarding fermentation communities and electrode respiring communities. The characterization of integrated community structure and community shifts is not well understood, however, it starts to attract interest of scientists and engineers. Results: In the present work, energy recovery and WAS conversion are comprehensively affected by typical pre-treated biosolid characteristics. We investigated the interaction of fermentation communities and electrode respiring communities in an integrated system of WAS fermentation and MEC for hydrogen recovery. A high energy recovery was achieved in the MECs feeding WAS fermentation liquid through alkaline pretreatment. Some anaerobes belonging to Firmicutes (Acetoanaerobium, Acetobacterium, and Fusibacter) showed synergistic relationship with exoelectrogens in the degradation of complex organic matter or recycling of MEC products (H-2). High protein and polysaccharide but low fatty acid content led to the dominance of Proteiniclasticum and Parabacteroides, which showed a delayed contribution to the extracellular electron transport leading to a slow cascade utilization of WAS. Conclusions: Efficient pretreatment could supply more short-chain fatty acids and higher conductivities in the fermentative liquid, which facilitated mass transfer in anodic biofilm. The overall performance of WAS cascade utilization was substantially related to the microbial community structures, which in turn depended on the initial pretreatment to enhance WAS fermentation. It is worth noting that species in AD and MEC communities are able to build complex networks of interaction, which have not been sufficiently studied so far. It is therefore important to understand how choosing operational parameters can influence reactor performances. The current study highlights the interaction of fermentative bacteria and exoelectrogens in the integrated system

Plant regeneration via somatic embryogenesis from root explants of Hevea brasiliensis

A system for induction of callus and plant regeneration via somatic embryogenesis from root explants of Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg. clone Reyan 87-6-62 was evaluated. The influence of plant growth regulators (PGRs) including 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) and kinetin (KT) on callus induction of root explants from in vitro plantlets were studied. The results showed that the highest induction frequency of embryogenic callus emerged on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mg/l KT, 0.2 mg/l 6-BA without 2,4-D. Mean of 4 somatic embryos per embryogenic callus were obtained and approximately 11.8% of them developed into plantlets. The regenerated plantlets were successfully  transplanted to sand bed. The plant regeneration system established in this study will facilitate mass propagation and may be applied to culture the roots of high-yielding rubber trees.Key words: Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg., root explants, callus, somatic embryogenesis, regeneration

Optimization of Preparation Process of Chitosan-carrageenan Edible Composite Membrane Based on Response Surface Methodology

Chitosan was mixed with carrageenan and tea polyphenols, and chitosan-carrageenan composite film was prepared by the fluidized bed method and its properties were tested.The light transmittance,mechanical property and water resistance of the composite film were investigated by single factor test, and then the response surface experiment was carried out to optimize the preparation process of the composite film with water vapor transmittance as the evaluation index.The results showed that the optimal process of chitosan - carrageenan edible composite film was as follows: adding 1.5% of chitosan, 0.4% of carrageenan,0.6% of glycerol, 0.6% of tea polyphenols, and drying temperature of 50 ℃.Under this condition, the thickness of the composite film was uniform and the mechanical properties were good.The water vapor transmission rate was 1.37 (10–11 g/m·s·Pa)

Immunogenicity of a Virus-Like-Particle Vaccine Containing Multiple Antigenic Epitopes of Toxoplasma gondii Against Acute and Chronic Toxoplasmosis in Mice

There is no effective protective vaccine against human toxoplasmosis, which is a potential threat to nearly a third of the world population. Vaccines based on virus-like particles (VLPs) have been highly successful in humans for many years, but have rarely been applied against Toxoplasma gondii infection. In this study, we inserted a B cell epitope (SAG182−102 or SAG1301−320), a CD8+ cell epitope (HF10 or ROP7), and a CD4+ cell epitope (AS15) of T. gondii into a truncated HBcΔ(amino acids1–149) particle to construct four chimeric VLP vaccine formulations, i.e., HBcΔH82, HBcΔH301, HBcΔ R82, and HBcΔ R301. When these chimeric HBc particles were expressed in Escherichia coli, they showed icosahedral morphology similar to that of the original VLPs and were evaluated as vaccine formulations against acute and chronic toxoplasmosis in a mouse model (BALB/c mice (H-2d). All these chimeric HBc VLPs induced strong humoral and cellular immune responses with high IgG antibody titers and interferon(IFN)-γ production. Only the mice immunized with HBcΔH82 showed prolonged survival time (15.6 ± 3.8 vs. 5.6 ± 0.8 days) against acute infection with RH tachyzoites and decrease in brain parasite load (1,454 ± 239 vs. 2,091 ± 263) against chronic infection with Prugniuad cysts, as compared to the findings for the control group. These findings suggest that HBc VLPs would act as an effective carrier for delivering effective multiple antigenic epitopes and would be beneficial for developing a safe and long-acting vaccine against toxoplasmosis