1,250 research outputs found
Effects of vegetation patterns on yields of the surface and subsurface waters in the Heishui Alpine Valley in west China
International audienceThe relationships between different vegetation types and water yields were investigated in the Heishui Valley of the upper Yangtze River in western China. Contributions of groundwater and the water from surface and subsurface in different tributaries were, respectively, computed based on the stable isotope data, while the percentages of different vegetation covers were achieved by remote sensing in landscape scale. Based on the relationships between different vegetation types and water yields in seven watersheds, we found that reduction in the total vegetation, forest and subalpine coniferous forest covers could cause increasing in surface and subsurface water yields, while the water yield increased with the alpine shrub and meadow cover increasing, respectively. All the relationships were displayed as the low altitude and high altitude patterns, which were caused by the different vegetation characteristics and topography. We also found effects of the total vegetation cover played the most important role on water yield at large scale while the coniferous forest cover would affect the water yield at relatively small scale
A Simultaneous Quantum Secure Direct Communication Scheme between the Central Party and Other M Parties
We propose a simultaneous quantum secure direct communication scheme between
one party and other three parties via four-particle GHZ states and swapping
quantum entanglement. In the scheme, three spatially separated senders, Alice,
Bob and Charlie, transmit their secret messages to a remote receiver Diana by
performing a series local operations on their respective particles according to
the quadripartite stipulation. From Alice, Bob, Charlie and Diana's Bell
measurement results, Diana can infer the secret messages. If a perfect quantum
channel is used, the secret messages are faithfully transmitted from Alice, Bob
and Charlie to Diana via initially shared pairs of four-particle GHZ states
without revealing any information to a potential eavesdropper. As there is no
transmission of the qubits carrying the secret message in the public channel,
it is completely secure for the direct secret communication. This scheme can be
considered as a network of communication parties where each party wants to
communicate secretly with a central party or server.Comment: 4 pages, no figur
SiC Nanorods Grown on Electrospun Nanofibers Using Tb as Catalyst: Fabrication, Characterization, and Photoluminescence Properties
Well-crystallizedβ-SiC nanorods grown on electrospun nanofibers were synthesized by carbothermal reduction of Tb doped SiO2(SiO2:Tb) nanofibers at 1,250 °C. The as-synthesized SiC nanorods were 100–300 nm in diameter and 2–3 μm in length. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results suggested that the growth of the SiC nanorods should be governed by vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism with Tb metal as catalyst. Tb(NO3)3particles on the surface of the electrospun nanofibers were decomposed at 500 °C and later reduced to the formation of Tb nanoclusters at 1,200 °C, and finally the formation of a Si–C–Tb ally droplet will stimulate the VLS growth at 1,250 °C. Microstructure of the nanorod was further investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that SiC <111> is the preferred initial growth direction. The liquid droplet was identified to be Si86Tb14, which acted as effective catalyst. Strong green emissions were observed from the SiC nanorod samples. Four characteristic photoluminescence (PL) peaks of Tb ions were also identified
Balancing selection on an MYB transcription factor maintains the twig trichome color variation in Melastoma normale
Background
The factors that maintain phenotypic and genetic variation within a population have received long-term attention in evolutionary biology. Here the genetic basis and evolution of the geographically widespread variation in twig trichome color (from red to white) in a shrub Melastoma normale was investigated using Pool-seq and evolutionary analyses.
Results
The results show that the twig trichome coloration is under selection in different light environments and that a 6-kb region containing an R2R3 MYB transcription factor gene is the major region of divergence between the extreme red and white morphs. This gene has two highly divergent groups of alleles, one of which likely originated from introgression from another species in this genus and has risen to high frequency (> 0.6) within each of the three populations under investigation. In contrast, polymorphisms in other regions of the genome show no sign of differentiation between the two morphs, suggesting that genomic patterns of diversity have been shaped by homogenizing gene flow. Population genetics analysis reveals signals of balancing selection acting on this gene, and it is suggested that spatially varying selection is the most likely mechanism of balancing selection in this case.
Conclusions
This study demonstrate that polymorphisms on a single transcription factor gene largely confer the twig trichome color variation in M. normale, while also explaining how adaptive divergence can occur and be maintained in the face of gene flow
Fully gapped topological surface states in BiSe films induced by a d-wave high-temperature superconductor
Topological insulators are a new class of materials, that exhibit robust
gapless surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry. The interplay
between such symmetry-protected topological surface states and symmetry-broken
states (e.g. superconductivity) provides a platform for exploring novel quantum
phenomena and new functionalities, such as 1D chiral or helical gapless
Majorana fermions, and Majorana zero modes which may find application in
fault-tolerant quantum computation. Inducing superconductivity on topological
surface states is a prerequisite for their experimental realization. Here by
growing high quality topological insulator BiSe films on a d-wave
superconductor BiSrCaCuO using molecular beam epitaxy,
we are able to induce high temperature superconductivity on the surface states
of BiSe films with a large pairing gap up to 15 meV. Interestingly,
distinct from the d-wave pairing of BiSrCaCuO, the
proximity-induced gap on the surface states is nearly isotropic and consistent
with predominant s-wave pairing as revealed by angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy. Our work could provide a critical step toward the realization of
the long sought-after Majorana zero modes.Comment: Nature Physics, DOI:10.1038/nphys274
Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica@Co–Al Layered Double Hydroxide Spheres: Layer-by-Layer Method and Their Effects on the Flame Retardancy of Epoxy Resins
Hierarchical mesoporous silica@Co–Al layered double hydroxide (m-SiO2@Co–Al LDH) spheres were prepared through a layer-by-layer assembly process, in order to integrate their excellent physical and chemical functionalities. TEM results depicted that, due to the electrostatic potential difference between m-SiO2 and Co–Al LDH, the synthetic m-SiO2@Co–Al LDH hybrids exhibited that m-SiO2 spheres were packaged by the Co–Al LDH nanosheets. Subsequently, the m-SiO2@Co–Al LDH spheres were incorporated into epoxy resin (EP) to prepare specimens for investigation of their flame-retardant performance. Cone results indicated that m-SiO2@Co–Al LDH incorporated obviously improved fire retardant of EP. A plausible mechanism of fire retardant was hypothesized based on the analyses of thermal conductivity, char residues, and pyrolysis fragments. Labyrinth effect of m-SiO2 and formation of graphitized carbon char catalyzed by Co–Al LDH play pivotal roles in the flame retardance enhancement
GeXP analyzer-based multiplex reverse-transcription PCR assay for the simultaneous detection and differentiation of eleven duck viruses
The Decays to -wave Charmonium by Improved Bethe-Salpeter Approach
We re-calculate the exclusive semileptonic and nonleptonic decays of
meson to a -wave charmonium in terms of the improved Bethe-Salpeter (B-S)
approach, which is developed recently. Here the widths for the exclusive
semileptonic and nonleptonic decays, the form factors, and the charged lepton
spectrums for the semileptonic decays are precisely calculated. To test the
concerned approach by comparing with experimental measurements when the
experimental data are available, and to have comparisons with the other
approaches the results obtained by the approach and those by some approaches
else as well as the original B-S approach, which appeared in literature, are
comparatively presented and discussed.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
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