Distinguishing Ontario ginseng landraces and ginseng species using NMR-based metabolomics

The use of ¹H-NMR-based metabolomics to distinguish and identify unique markers of five Ontario ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) landraces and two ginseng species (P. quinquefolius and P. ginseng) was evaluated. Three landraces (2, 3, and 5) were distinguished from one another in the principal component analysis (PCA) scores plot. Further analysis was conducted and specific discriminating metabolites from the PCA loadings were determined. Landraces 3 and 5 were distinguishable on the basis of a decreased NMR intensity in the methyl ginsenoside region, indicating decreased overall ginsenoside levels. In addition, landrace 5 was separated by an increased amount of sucrose relative to the rest of the landraces. Landrace 2 was separated from the rest of the landraces by the increased level of ginsenoside R_b1. The Ontario P. quinquefolius was also compared with Asian P. ginseng by PCA, and clear separation between the two groups was detected in the PCA scores plot. The PCA loadings plot and a t-test NMR difference plot were able to identify an increased level of maltose and a decreased level of sucrose in the Asian ginseng compared with the Ontario ginseng. An overall decrease of ginsenoside content, especially ginsenoside R_b1, was also detected in the Asian ginseng’s metabolic profile. This study demonstrates the potential of NMR-based metabolomics as a powerful high-throughput technique in distinguishing various closely related ginseng landraces and its ability to identify metabolic differences from Ontario and Asian ginseng. The results from this study will allow better understanding for quality assessment, species authentication, and the potential for developing a fully automated method for quality control.

Electrochemical behavior of uranyl in ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride mixture with water

Electrochemical behaviors of U(VI) in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C₄MimCl) with various water contents investigated by chronopotentiometry and cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemical reduction of U(VI) was identified to follow two processes: a lower valence intermediate U(V) was initially formed at the potential of ca. ?0.2 V(vs. Ag wire). Then, further deposition of UO₂ was followed at around ?0.8 V. Little amount of water (1–4 wt%) in C₄MimCl, however, has an effect on the U(VI) reduction by changing the current density of the redox reaction and the diffusion coefficient of U(VI) in C₄MimCl. The deposited product by potentiostatic electrolysis on the surface of stainless steel electrode was characterized by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. Although the electrodeposited black film was amorphous, the electrochemical reduced product of U(VI) can be still confirmed to be UO₂ by XRD after the crystallization of the amorphous deposits at 1,073 K in nitrogen atmosphere.     

关于边界元方法中柯西主值积分的探讨

本文对边界元方法中的各类积分根据其奇异性作分类，并对主值积分的收敛条件、变量替换等进行了讨论，又给出了变替换附加项显式。文中提供的主值积分配项消奇术在边界元方法中是有普遍意义的。     

Picosecond transient photoconductivity in functionalized pentacene molecular crystals probed by terahertz pulse spectroscopy

We have measured transient photoconductivity in functionalized pentacene molecular crystals using ultrafast optical pump-terahertz probe techniques. The single crystal samples were excited using 800 nm, 100 fs pulses, and the change in transmission of time-delayed, subpicosecond terahertz pulses was used to probe the photoconducting state over a temperature range from 10 to 300 K. A subpicosecond rise in photoconductivity is observed, suggesting that mobile carriers are a primary photoexcitation. At times longer than 4 ps, a power-law decay is observed consistent with dispersive transport.     

The elastic scattering of polarized 3He by 3He and excitation in the 6Be system

Angular distributions of the polarization in the elastic scattering of ³He by ³He have been measured at eight energies between 18 and 33 MeV, corresponding to excitation of ⁶Be between 20.5 and 28 MeV. The measurements were made using the 33 MeV polarised ³He beam at the University of Birmingham Radial Ridge cyclotron and a small gas target. The data have been analysed in terms of real and complex phase shifts. The deduced phase shift energy dependence cannot be associated with a single isolated level in ⁶Be, however an application of the two-level R-matrix formula reveals some broad L = 3 structures around E_x = 25 MeV.     

All-optical add-drop node for optical packet-switched networks

We have demonstrated all-optical packet add-drop for all-optical packet-switched networks. Intelligent all-optical add-drop of packets is performed, based on all-optical processing of packet headers. The header and payload rates are 5 and 10 Gbits/s, respectively.     

Low energy electron irradiation induced deep level defects in 6H-SiC: the implication for the microstructure of the deep levels E1/E2

N-type 6H-SiC samples irradiated with electrons having energies of E(e)=0.2, 0.3, 0.5, and 1.7 were studied by deep level transient technique. No deep level was detected at below 0.2 MeV irradiation energy while for E(e)>/=0.3 MeV, deep levels ED1, E(1)/E(2), and E(i) appeared. By considering the minimum energy required to displace the C atom or the Si atom in the SiC lattice, it is concluded that generation of the deep levels E(1)/E(2), as well as ED1 and E(i), involves the displacement of the C atom in the SiC lattice.     

Mechanism Study for Thermal/Electric Field Poling of Fused Silica

On the basis of the experimental reports, the mechanism of the second-order susceptibility ⁽²⁾ for the thermal/electric field poling of fused silica is analyzed, and expressions for ⁽²⁾ are detailedly derived and numerically calculated for the first time. By comparison the theoretical value of ⁽²⁾ with the experiment results, we propose that the effective ⁽²⁾ is created via both the interaction of the intense electric field with the third-order susceptibility ⁽³⁾ and the dipole orientation. The theoretical results show that, in the differently applied voltage, the dipole orientation and ⁽³⁾ play different role in the formation of ⁽²⁾. This theory successfully explains some experiment results.     

Facility Update: APS Operations and New Beamlines

Twenty years is a long time, but it seems to me as if it were yesterday when the three of us—Michel Belakhovsky, Christian Riekel and I—first scientists of the Experiments Division (except the directors) at the not yet created European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, living in a temporary and not very solid building, made the last corrections to the text of the famous “Red Book,” the ESRF Foundation Phase Report published in February 1987. The floor was shaking in our office when Ruprecht Haensel, the first Director General, walked along the corridor…. We had convened workshops of experts in the various fields to define the first set of beamlines to be built at the ESRF. The program was quite complete, comprising inelastic scattering, imaging (topography), microfocusing, small angle scattering, nuclear resonance, high energy, etc. Costs were particularly difficult to estimate, but finally we were not so far from the real figures.     

A reduction method for multiple time scale stochastic reaction networks with non-unique equilibrium probability

We develop a reduction method for general closed multiple time scale stochastic reaction networks for which the fast subsystem may have non-unique equilibrium probability. We obtain a reduced ODE system with nonhomogeneous terms whose solutions can approximate the solutions of the full system accurately. We then apply this reduction method to general linear network and nonlinear networks for which the state diagram can be constructed. We illustrate the accuracy of the reduction method by comparing computational results of the full systems with the reduced ODE systems for several examples. Finally, we show how the reduction method may be extended to three or more time scale reaction networks.