Ultrastructural changes and programmed cell death of trophocytes in the gonad of Isohypsibius granulifer granulifer Thulin, 1928 (Tardigrada,Eutardigrada, Isohypsibiidae)

The studies on the fates of the trophocytes, the apoptosis and autophagy in the gonad of Isohypsibius granulifer granulifer have been described using transmission electron microscope, light and fluorescent microscopes. The results presented here are the first that are connected with the cell death of nurse cells in the gonad of tardigrades. However, here we complete the results presented by Węglarska (1987).The reproductive system of I. g. granulifer contains a single sack-like hermaphroditic gonad and a single gonoduct. The gonad is composed of three parts: a germarium filled with proliferating germ cells (oogonia); a vitellarium that has clusters of female germ cells (the region of oocytes development); and a male part filled with male germ cells in which the sperm cells develop. The trophocytes (nurse cells) show distinct alterations during all of the stages of oogenesis: previtello-, vitello- and choriogenesis. During previtellogenesis the female germ cells situated in the vitellarium are connected by cytoplasmic bridges, and form clusters of cells. No ultrastructural differences appear among the germ cells in a cluster during this stage of oogenesis. In early vitellogenesis, the cells in each cluster start to grow and numerous organelles gradually accumulate in their cytoplasm. However, at the beginning of the middle of vitellogenesis, one cell in each cluster starts to grow in order to differentiate into oocyte, while the remaining cells are trophocytes. Eventually, the cytoplasmic bridges between the oocyte and trophocytes disappear. Autophagosomes also appear in the cytoplasm of nurse cells together with many degenerating organelles. The cytoplasm starts to shrink, which causes the degeneration of the cytoplasmic bridges between trophocytes. Apoptosis begins when the cytoplasm of these cells is full of autophagosomes/autolysosomes and causes their death.     

Phase Transition and Critical Phenomenon Occurring in Granular Matter

We investigate the granular flow states in a channel with bottleneck by molecular dynamics simulations.Our study is restricted only on a selected key area rather than on the whole system to focus on the flow properties of a single granular state.A random force field is introduced to control the granular temperature.It is also pointed out that the flow rate in the granular flow can be correlated with the pressure,which leads us to carry out a comprehensive study similar to the classical study for general liquid-gas phase transition.Our results show that the dilute flow state and the dense flow state of the granules are similar to the gas state and the liquid state of general substances,respectively,and the properties of phase transition and critical phenomenon are also similar to those occurring in general substances.     

Phase inhomogeneity of the itinerant ferromagnet MnSi at high pressures

The pressure induced quantum phase transition of the weakly ferromagnetic metal MnSi is studied using zero-field 29Si NMR spectroscopy and relaxation. Below P(*) approximately 1.2 GPa, the intensity of the signal and the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation are independent of pressure, even though the amplitude of the magnetization drops by 20% from the ambient-pressure amplitude. For P>P(*), the decreasing intensity within the experimentally detectable bandwidth signals the onset of an inhomogeneous phase that persists to the highest pressure measured, P>/=1.75 GPa, which is well beyond the known critical pressure P(c)=1.46 GPa. Implications for the non-Fermi liquid behavior observed for P>P(c) are discussed.     

Chiral phase transition and Anderson localization in the instanton liquid model for QCD

We study the spectrum and eigenmodes of the QCD Dirac operator in a gauge background given by an instanton liquid model (ILM) at temperatures around the chiral phase transition. Generically we find the Dirac eigenvectors become more localized as the temperature is increased. At the chiral phase transition, both the low lying eigenmodes and the spectrum of the QCD Dirac operator undergo a transition to localization similar to the one observed in a disordered conductor. This suggests that Anderson localization is the fundamental mechanism driving the chiral phase transition. We also find an additional temperature dependent mobility edge (separating delocalized from localized eigenstates) in the bulk of the spectrum which moves toward lower eigenvalues as the temperature is increased. In both regions, the origin and the bulk, the transition to localization exhibits features of a 3D Anderson transition including multifractal eigenstates and spectral properties that are well described by critical statistics. Similar results are obtained in both the quenched and the unquenched case though the critical temperature in the unquenched case is lower. Finally we argue that our findings are not in principle restricted to the ILM approximation and may also be found in lattice simulations.     

高压作用下相分离液体玻璃转变的分子动力学研究

采用分子动力学模拟方法,研究了二元混合液体在不同外压作用下的相分离与玻璃转变过程,计算了相分离液体在玻璃转变过程中的结构和动力学特征.研究发现,外压会促进相分离的产生,并提高玻璃转变温度,会使β弛豫出现的温度更高、存在的时间更长,导致系统扩散性降低.同时还发现,相分离液体的玻璃转变过程存在微观不均匀现象. 关键词： 相分离 玻璃转变 分子动力学模拟 外压影响     

Diffusion inside living human cells

Naturally occurring lipid granules diffuse in the cytoplasm and can be used as tracers to map out the viscoelastic landscape inside living cells. Using optical trapping and single particle tracking we found that lipid granules exhibit anomalous diffusion inside human umbilical vein endothelial cells. For these cells the exact diffusional pattern of a particular granule depends on the physiological state of the cell and on the localization of the granule within the cytoplasm. Granules located close to the actin rich periphery of the cell move less than those located towards to the center of the cell or within the nucleus. Also, granules in cells which are stressed by intense laser illumination or which have attached to a surface for a long period of time move in a more restricted fashion than those within healthy cells. For granules diffusing in healthy cells, in regions away from the cell periphery, occurrences of weak ergodicity breaking are observed, similar to the recent observations inside living fission yeast cells [1].     

气泡室中"胚胎"气泡的联并成长为可见气泡的理论计算

借助岛的联并理论,可以很好地解决气泡室中"胚胎"气泡成长为可见气泡问题.理论计算表明,联并后的大"胚胎"气泡在成长为可见气泡的过程中,气泡的半径不仅与工作物质如液体的表面张力系数、饱和蒸汽压和流体的沸点有关,而且还与"胚胎 "气泡从其周围吸收热量和"胚胎"气泡联并的个数有关.理论上可以合理解释能量相同的中子和质子入射到气泡室所产生的径迹粗短;也可以合理解释电荷数较多的入射粒子较能量相同但电荷数不同的入射粒子,其在气泡室中径迹上气泡的半径要大.     

Multiple roles of endocytosis and autophagy in intracellular remodeling during oocyte-to-embryo transition

Fertilization is the starting point for creating new progeny. At this time, the highly differentiated oocyte and sperm fuse to form one zygote, which is then converted into a pluripotent early embryo. Recent studies have shown that the lysosomal degradation system via autophagy and endocytosis plays important roles in the remodeling of intracellular components during oocyte-to-embryo transition. For example, in Caenorhabditis elegans, zygotes show high endocytic activity, and some populations of maternal membrane proteins are selectively internalized and delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Furthermore, fertilization triggers selective autophagy of sperm-derived paternal mitochondria, which establishes maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA. In addition, it has been shown that autophagy via liquid–liquid phase separation results in the selective degradation of some germ granule components, which are distributed to somatic cells of early embryos. This review outlines the physiological functions of the lysosomal degradation system and its molecular mechanisms in C. elegans and mouse embryos.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Liquid Phosphorus at High Temperature and Pressure

By performing ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we have investigated the microstructure, dynamical and electronic properties of liquid phosphorus （P） under high temperature and pressure. In our simulations, the calculated coordination number （CN） changes discontinuously with density, and seems to increase rapidly after liquid P is compressed to 2.5 g/cm3. Under compression, liquid P shows the first-order liquid-liquid phase transition from the molecular liquid composed of the tetrahedral P4 molecules to complex polymeric form with three-dimensional network structure, accompanied by the nonmetal to metal transition of the electronic structure. The order parameters Q6 and Q4 are sensitive to the microstructural change of liquid P. By calculating diffusion coefficients, we show the dynamical anomaly of liquid P by compression. At lower temperatures, a maximum exists at the diffusion coefficients as a function of density; at higher temperatures, the anomalous behavior is weakened. The excess entropy shows the same phenomena as the diffusion coefficients. By analysis of the angle distribution functions and angular limited triplet correlation functions, we can clearly find that the Peierls distortion in polymeric form of liquid P is reduced by further compression.     

Orientational transitions in antiferromagnetic liquid crystals

The orientational phases in an antiferromagnetic liquid crystal (ferronematic) based on the nematic liquid crystal with the negative anisotropy of diamagnetic susceptibility are studied in the framework of the continuum theory. The ferronematic was assumed to be compensated; i.e., in zero field, impurity ferroparticles with the magnetic moments directed parallel and antiparallel to the director are equiprobably distributed in it. It is established that under the action of a magnetic field the ferronematic undergoes orientational transitions compensated (antiferromagnetic) phase–non-uniform phase–saturation (ferrimagnetic) phase. The analytical expressions for threshold fields of the transitions as functions of material parameters are obtained. It is shown that with increasing magnetic impurity segregation parameter, the threshold fields of the transitions significantly decrease. The bifurcation diagram of the ferronematic orientational phases is built in terms of the energy of anchoring of magnetic particles with the liquid-crystal matrix and magnetic field. It is established that the Freedericksz transition is the second-order phase transition, while the transition to the saturation state can be second- or first-order. In the latter case, the suspension exhibits orientational bistability. The orientational and magnetooptical properties of the ferronematic in different applied magnetic fields are studied.     

冲击波温度和压力对二氧化钛相变的影响

 介绍了一种简便易行的降低疏松固体物质冲击波温度的方法，其要点是用液体石蜡充填样品的空隙。以用粉末锐钛矿压装成型的样品为例，对比了不充填和充填液态石蜡时冲击波作用的结果。在同样的冲击加载条件下（均为钢飞片，撞击速度为3.16 km/s），估算两种样品中达到的压力分别为36.3 GPa和46.8 GPa，平均温度分别约为4.7×10³ ℃和2.0×10³ ℃，即：充填液态石蜡的样品中压力增加了约10 GPa，但平均温度降低了近3×10³ ℃。对冲击后回收样品的分析结果表明，不充填石蜡样品的主要产物为金红石，即冲击波产生的高温起了主要作用。而充填液态石蜡时，主要生成β-TiO₂高压相，即高压起了主要作用。     

单壁碳纳米管微分电导在高压和强磁场下的实验研究

单壁碳纳米管在高压下会发生结构相变，导致金属型的碳纳米管变成半导体.相变后碳纳米管中电子的库仑关联的表现形式发生变化，从Luttinger liquid行为转变成环境量子涨落行为.同时，相变后电子波函数的相位关联导致弱局域化行为的出现.为了研究库仑关联和相位关联之间是否有相互影响，使用金刚石对顶砧和液压自锁高压包在0—10 GPa准静压范围内测量了单层碳纳米管样品在低温和不同磁场下的微分电导随偏压的依赖关系.实验结果表明，相位关联和库仑关联是两种独立的效应，各自影响着电子的输运行为. 关键词： 单层碳纳米管 高压 微分电导     

Liquid-liquid phase transitions of phosphorus via constant-pressure first-principles molecular dynamics simulations

Pressure-induced phase transitions in liquid phosphorus have been studied by constant-pressure first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. By compressing a low-pressure liquid which consists of the tetrahedral P4 molecules, a structural phase transition from the molecular to polymeric liquid (a high-pressure phase) observed in the recent experiment by Katayama et al. [Nature (London) 403, 170 (2000)] was successfully realized. It is found that this transition is caused by a breakup of the tetrahedral molecules with large volume contraction. The same transition is also realized by heating. This indicates that only the polymeric liquid can stably exist at high temperature.     

Ultrastructural description of spermiogenesis within the Mediterranean Gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus (Squamata: Gekkonidae)

We studied spermiogenesis in the Mediterranean Gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, at the electron microscope level and compared to what is known within other Lepidosaurs. In H. turcicus germ cells are connected via cytoplasmic bridges where organelle and cytoplasm sharing is observed. The acrosome develops from merging transport vesicles that arise from the Golgi and subsequently partition into an acrosomal cap containing an acrosomal cortex, acrosomal medulla, perforatorium, and subacrosomal cone. Condensation of DNA occurs in a spiral fashion and elongation is aided by microtubules of the manchette. A nuclear rostrum extends into the subacrosomal cone and is capped by an epinuclear lucent zone. Mitochondria and rough endoplasmic reticulum migrate to the posterior portion of the developing germ cell during the cytoplasmic shift and the flagellum elongates. Mitochondria surround the midpiece as the anlage of the annulus forms. The fibrous sheath begins at mitochondrial tier 3 and continues into the principal piece. Peripheral fibers associated with microtubule doublets 3 and 8 are grossly enlarged. During the final stages of germ cell development spermatids are wrapped with a series of Sertoli cell processes, which exhibit ectoplasmic specializations and differing cytoplasmic consistencies. The results observed here corroborate previous studies, which show the conservative nature of sperm morphology. However, ultrastructural character combinations specific to sperm and spermiogenesis seem to differ among taxa. Further studies into sperm morphology are needed in order to judge the relevance of the ontogenic changes recorded here and to determine their role in future studies on amniote evolution.     

Electrophysical Properties of ZnAs 2 and CdAs 2 at Hydrostatic Pressure up to 9 GPa

Specific electroresistance and Hall coefficient on oriented ZnAs 2 and CdAs 2 single crystals in the region of room temperatures at hydrostatic pressure up to 9 GPa were measured. In p -ZnAs 2 specific electroresistance falls for one order of magnitude with the increase of pressure, and Hall coefficient falls for two orders in magnitude, and at P =7 GPa specific electroresistance and Hall coefficient come out to a saturation. Under mentioned conditions the phase transition in investigated p -ZnAs 2 samples was not observed, in all probability it occurs under the pressure P >10 GPa. Two groups of n -CdAs 2 samples oriented on [1 0 0] and [0 0 1] directions were investigated. The reversible structural phase transition was observed in investigated n -CdAs 2 samples at P =5.5 GPa from the dependencies of specific electroresistance 𝜌 ( P ) and Hall coefficient R H ( P ). On the basis of the values of concentrations and mobilities before and after phase transition a conclusion was made that semiconductor-semiconductor transition takes place in n -CdAs 2 . Maxima that earlier weren't observed, were detected on dependencies 𝜌 ( P ), R H ( P ) at P =1.8 GPa and at P =3 GPa.     

Emergence of superconductivity, valence bond order, and Mott insulators in Pd[(dmit)2] based organic salts

The EtMe(3)P and EtMe(3)Sb triangular organic salts are distinguished from other Pd[(dmit)(2)] based salts, as they display valence bond and no long-range order, respectively. Under pressure, a superconducting phase is revealed in EtMe(3)P near the boundary of valence bond order. We use slave-rotor theory with an enlarged unit cell to study competition between uniform and broken translational symmetry states, offering a theoretical framework capturing the superconducting, valence bond order, spin liquid, and metallic phases on an isotropic triangular lattice. Our finite temperature phase diagram manifests a remarkable resemblance to the phase diagram of the EtMe(3)P salt, where the reentrant transition of insulator-metal-insulator type can be explained by an entropy difference between the metal and U(1) spin liquid. We predict different temperature dependence of the specific heat between the spin liquid and metal.     

Quantum critical phase and Lifshitz transition in an extended periodic Anderson model

We study the quantum phase transition in f-electron systems as a quantum Lifshitz transition driven by selective-Mott localization in a realistic extended Anderson lattice model. Using dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT), we find that a quantum critical phase with anomalous ω/T scaling separates a heavy Landau-Fermi liquid from ordered phase(s). This non-Fermi liquid state arises from a lattice orthogonality catastrophe originating from orbital-selective Mott localization. Fermi surface reconstruction occurs via the interplay between and penetration of the Green function zeros to the poles, leading to violation of Luttinger's theorem in the strange metal. We show how this naturally leads to scale-invariant responses in transport. Thus, our work represents a specific DMFT realization of the hidden-FL and FL* theories, and holds promise for the study of 'strange' metal phases in quantum matter.     

Nanopore wall effect on surface tension of methane

Local pressure is known to be anisotropic across the interfaces separating fluids in equilibrium. Tangential pressure profiles show characteristic negative peaks as a result of surface tension forces parallel to the interface. Nearby attractive forces parallel to the interface are larger than the repulsive forces and, hence, constitute the surface tension. In this work, using molecular dynamics simulations of methane inside nano-scale pores, we show this surface tension behaviour could be significantly influenced by confinement effects. The layering structure, characterised by damped oscillations in local liquid density and tangential pressures, extends deep into the pore and can be a few nanometers thick. The surface tension is measured numerically using local pressures across the interface. Results show that the tension is smaller under confinement and becomes a variable in small pores, mainly controlled by the thickness of the liquid density layering (or liquid saturation) and the pore width. If the liquid saturation inside the pore is high enough, the vapour–liquid interface is not interfered by the pore wall and the surface tension remains the same as the bulk values. The results are important for understanding phase change and multi-phase transport phenomena in nanoporous materials.     

常温及常压至1.2GPa条件下异辛烷的拉曼光谱研究

利用碳化硅压腔在室温(25℃)下,研究了异辛烷(2,2,4-三甲基戊烷)在常压至1.2GPa条件下的拉曼光谱特征。研究结果表明,异辛烷CH2和CH3的碳氢伸缩振动的拉曼位移随着压力的增大均呈线性向高频方向移动,其拉曼位移与压力的函数关系为:ν2 873=0.002 8P+2 873.3;ν2 905=0.004 8P+2 905.4;ν2 935=0.002 7P+2 935.0;ν2 960=0.012P+2 960.9。在1.0GPa附近,异辛烷的拉曼位移出现突变,与显微镜下观察发生的异辛烷液-固相变一致。结合异辛烷在常压下的熔点数据,获得了异辛烷的液-固两相相图,并根据克拉贝龙方程获得了液-固相转变过程中的摩尔体积变化量ΔVm=4.46×10-6 m3.mol-1和熵变ΔS=-30.32J.K-1.mol-1。     

Oscillation and Migration of Bubbles within Ultrasonic Field

The oscillation and migration of bubbles within an intensive ultrasonic field are important issues concerning acoustic cavitation in liquids.We establish a selection map of bubble oscillation mode related to initial bubble radius and driving sound pressure under 20 kHz ultrasound and analyze the individual-bubble migration induced by the combined effects of pressure gradient and acoustic streaming.Our results indicate that the pressure threshold of stable and transient cavitation decreases with the increasing initial bubble radius.At the pressure antinode,the Bjerknes force dominates the bubble migration, resulting in the large bubbles gathering toward antinode center,whereas small bubbles escape from antinode.By contrast,at the pressure node,the bubble migration is primarily controlled by acoustic streaming,which effectively weakens the bubble adhesion on the container walls,thereby enhancing the cavitation effect in the whole liquid.