YBCO-buffered NdBCO film with higher thermal stability in seeding REBCO Growth

In this work, we report a strengthened superheating effect caused by a buffering YBa2Cu3Oy (Y123 or YBCO) layer in the Nd1+xBa2-xCu3O7-y (Nd123 or NdBCO) thin film with MgO substrate (i.e., NdBCO/YBCO/MgO thin film). In the cold-seeding melt-textured (MT) growth, the NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film presented an even higher superheating level, about 20 {\deg}C higher than that of non-buffered NdBCO film (i.e., NdBCO/MgO film). Using this NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film as seeds and undergoing a maximum processing temperature (Tmax) up to 1120 {\deg}C, we succeeded in growing various RE1+xBa2-xCu3O7-y (REBCO, RE=rare elements) bulk superconductors, including Gd1+xBa2-xCu3O7-y (GdBCO), Sm1+xBa2-xCu3O7-y (SmBCO) and NdBCO that have high peritectic temperatures (Tp). The pole figure (X-Ray \phi-scan) measurement reveals that the NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film has better in-plane alignment than the NdBCO/MgO film, indicating that the induced intermediate layer improves the crystallinity of the NdBCO film, which could be the main origin of the enhanced thermal stability. In short, possessing higher thermal stability and enduring a higher Tmax in the MT process, the NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film is beneficial to the growth of bulk superconductors in two aspects: (1) broad application for high-Tp REBCO materials; (2) effective suppression against heterogeneous nucleation, which is of great assistance in growing large and high-performance REBCO crystals.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Comments on Drinfeld Realization of Quantum Affine Superalgebra Uq[gl(m∣n)(1)]U_q[gl(m|n)^{(1)}] and its Hopf Algebra Structure

By generalizing the Reshetikhin and Semenov-Tian-Shansky construction to supersymmetric cases, we obtain Drinfeld current realization for quantum affine superalgebra $U_q[gl(m|n)^{(1)}]$. We find a simple coproduct for the quantum current generators and establish the Hopf algebra structure of this super current algebra.Comment: Some errors and misprints corrected and a remark in section 4 removed. 12 pages, Latex fil

Proteome profiling of cadmium-induced apoptosis by antibody array analyses in human bronchial epithelial cells

Protein array technology is a powerful platform for the simultaneous determination of the expression levels of a number of proteins as well as post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation. Here, we screen and report for the first time, the dominant signaling cascades and apoptotic mediators during the course of cadmium (Cd)-induced cytotoxicity in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) by antibody array analyses. Proteins from control and Cd-treated cells were captured on Proteome Profiler™ Arrays for the parallel determination of the relative levels of protein phosphorylation and proteins associated with apoptosis. Our results indicated that the p38 MAPK- and JNK-related signal transduction pathways were dramatically activated by Cd treatment. Cd potently stimulates the phosphorylations of p38α (MAPK14), JNK1/2 (MAPK8/9), and JUN; while the phosphorylations of Akt1, ERK1/2 (MAPK3/1), GSK3β, and mTOR were suppressed. Moreover, there was an induction of proapoptotic protein BAX, release of cytochrome c (CYCS) from mitochondria, activation of caspase-3/9 (CASP3/9); as well as decreased expression of cell cycle checkpoint proteins (TP53, p21, and p27) and several inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) [including cIAP-1/2 (BIRC2/3), XIAP (BIRC4), and survivin (BIRC5)]. Pretreatment of cells with the thiol antioxidant glutathione or p38 MAPK/JNK inhibitors before Cd treatment effectively abrogated ROS activation of p38 MAPK/JNK pathways and apoptosis-related proteins. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Cd causes oxidative stress-induced apoptosis; and the p38 MAPK/JNK and mitochondrial pathways are more importantly participated for signal transduction and the induction of apoptosis in Cd-exposed human lung cells.published_or_final_versio

Quantum Communications with Compressed Decoherence Using Bright Squeezed Light

We propose a scheme for long-distance distribution of quantum entanglement in which the entanglement between qubits at intermediate stations of the channel is established by using bright light pulses in squeezed states coupled to the qubits in cavities with a weak dispersive interaction. The fidelity of the entanglement between qubits at the neighbor stations (10 km apart from each other) obtained by postselection through the balanced homodyne detection of 7 dB squeezed pulses can reach F=0.99 without using entanglement purification, at same time, the probability of successful generation of entanglement is 0.34.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Sulforaphane induces adipocyte browning and promotes glucose and lipid utilization

Scope: Obesity is closely related to the imbalance of white adipose tissue storing excess calories, and brown adipose tissue dissipating energy to produce heat in mammals. Recent studies revealed that acquisition of brown characteristics by white adipocytes, termed “browning,” may positively contribute to cellular bioenergetics and metabolism homeostasis. The goal was to investigate the putative effects of natural antioxidant sulforaphane (1-isothiocyanate-4-methyl-sulfonyl butane; SFN) on browning of white adipocytes. Methods and Results: 3T3-L1 mature white adipocytes were treated with SFN for 48 h, and then the mitochondrial content, function, and energy utilization were assessed. SFN was found to induce 3T3-L1 adipocytes browning based on the increased mitochondrial content and activity of respiratory chain enzymes, whereas the mechanism involved the upregulation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2/ sirtuin1/ peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha signaling. SFN enhanced uncoupling protein 1 expression, a marker for brown adipocyte, leading to the decrease in cellular ATP. SFN also enhanced glucose uptake and oxidative utilization, lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Conclusion: SFN-induced browning of white adipocytes enhanced the utilization of cellular fuel, and the application of SFN is a promising strategy to combat obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorder

A new tow-parameter integrable model of strongly correlated electrons with quantum superalgebra symmetry

A new two-parameter integrable model with quantum superalgebra $U_q[gl(3|1)]$ symmetry is proposed, which is an eight-state electron model with correlated single-particle and pair hoppings as well as uncorrelated triple-particle hopping. The model is solved and the Bethe ansatz equations are obtained.Comment: 6 pages, RevTe

Stochastic Heterostructures in B/N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are one-dimensional and very narrow. These obvious facts imply that under doping with boron and nitrogen, microscopic doping inhomogeneity is much more important than for bulk semiconductors. We consider the possibility of exploiting such fluctuations to create interesting devices. Using self-consistent tight-binding (SCTB), we study heavily doped highly compensated nanotubes, revealing the spontaneous formation of structures resembling chains of random quantum dots, or nano-scale diode-like elements in series. We also consider truly isolated impurities, revealing simple scaling properties of bound state sizes and energies.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 4 PostScript figure

Magnetic Phase Diagram and Metal-Insulator Transition of NiS2-xSex

Magnetic phase diagram of NiS2-xSex has been reexamined by systematic studies of electrical resistivity, uniform magnetic susceptibility and neutron diffraction using single crystals grown by a chemical transport method. The electrical resistivity and the uniform magnetic susceptibility exhibit the same feature of temperature dependence over a wide Se concentration. A distinct first order metal-insulator (M-I) transition accompanied by a volume change was observed only in the antiferromagnetic ordered phase for 0.50<x<0.59. In this region, the M-I transition makes substantial effects to the thermal evolution of staggered moments. In the paramagnetic phase, the M-I transition becomes broad; both the electrical resistivity and the uniform magnetic susceptibility exhibit a broad maximum around the temperatures on the M-I transition-line extrapolated to the paramagnetic phase.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, corrected EPS fil

Dietary Iron Requirements of Adult GIFT Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Dietary iron requirement of adult Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT strain), was determined in this study through a 77 day feeding trial. Diets with six concentrations of iron (45.55 - the control group, 94.91, 193.62, 292.34, 391.05, and 489.77 mg iron/kg diet) from ferrous sulfate were formulated and hand-fed to adult GIFT (initial body weight 174.58±3.49g). The results indicated that no fish died in all groups. Weight gain ratio, feed efficiency rate, as well as specific growth rate decreased in relation to increasing dietary iron levels, and reached the lowest when supplemented with 489.77 mg iron/kg diet. Crude body fat content showed an increasing trend in relation to increasing dietary iron levels. The iron content in the body, vertebrae, and liver significantly increased with dietary iron levels which reached up to 391.05 mg iron/kg diet. The number of red blood cells, the hemoglobin content and the packed cell volume was highest in 94.91 mg iron/kg group. In conclusion, dietary iron made no obvious improvement on growth performance, but improved hematopoietic function of adult Nile tilapia, reared in freshwater. We found that no additional iron needs to be added to the adult Nile tilapia (174.6–558.1 g) feed based on the growth, whereas broken-line regression analysis were used to determine the optimum iron requirements for maximum hemoglobin levels, the dietary iron requirement for hemoglobin was 120.94 mg iron/kg diet with ferrous sulfate as a source of iron