Observation of a new DsJ meson in B+-->D0D0K+ decays

We report the observation of a new DsJ meson produced in B+-->D0DsJ-->D0D0K+. This state has a mass of M=2708+/-9(-10)(+11) MeV/c2, a width Gamma=108+/-23(-31)(+36) MeV/c2 and a 1- spin-parity. The statistical significance of this observation is 8.4 sigma. The results are based on an analysis of 449 x 10(6) BB events collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider.     

The function of Shp2 tyrosine phosphatase in the dispersal of acetylcholine receptor clusters

Background

Tone languages such as Thai and Mandarin Chinese use differences in fundamental frequency (F₀, pitch) to distinguish lexical meaning. Previous behavioral studies have shown that native speakers of a non-tone language have difficulty discriminating among tone contrasts and are sensitive to different F₀ dimensions than speakers of a tone language. The aim of the present ERP study was to investigate the effect of language background and training on the non-attentive processing of lexical tones. EEG was recorded from 12 adult native speakers of Mandarin Chinese, 12 native speakers of American English, and 11 Thai speakers while they were watching a movie and were presented with multiple tokens of low-falling, mid-level and high-rising Thai lexical tones. High-rising or low-falling tokens were presented as deviants among mid-level standard tokens, and vice versa. EEG data and data from a behavioral discrimination task were collected before and after a two-day perceptual categorization training task.

Results

Behavioral discrimination improved after training in both the Chinese and the English groups. Low-falling tone deviants versus standards elicited a mismatch negativity (MMN) in all language groups. Before, but not after training, the English speakers showed a larger MMN compared to the Chinese, even though English speakers performed worst in the behavioral tasks. The MMN was followed by a late negativity, which became smaller with improved discrimination. The High-rising deviants versus standards elicited a late negativity, which was left-lateralized only in the English and Chinese groups.

Conclusion

Results showed that native speakers of English, Chinese and Thai recruited largely similar mechanisms when non-attentively processing Thai lexical tones. However, native Thai speakers differed from the Chinese and English speakers with respect to the processing of late F₀ contour differences (high-rising versus mid-level tones). In addition, native speakers of a non-tone language (English) were initially more sensitive to F₀ onset differences (low-falling versus mid-level contrast), which was suppressed as a result of training. This result converges with results from previous behavioral studies and supports the view that attentive as well as non-attentive processing of F₀ contrasts is affected by language background, but is malleable even in adult learners.     

GaAs体材料及其量子阱的光学极化退相特性

采用飞秒时间分辨瞬态简并四波混频技术，在室温下测量了GaAs体材料及其量子阱材料GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As的光学极化超快退相时间，当激光中心波长为785nm，受激载流子浓度为10¹¹cm^-2时，它们的退相时间分别为28fs和46fs.量子阱材料的退相时间比体材料的长，这是由于量子阱中的载流子在垂直于GaAs/AlGaAs界面的运动受到限制，运动呈现二维特性，大大减小了载流子的散射概率.实验中观察到瞬态简并四波混 关键词： 时间分辨简并四波混频 飞秒激光脉冲 退相 密度矩阵     

External Electric Field Effect on Hydrogenic Donor Impurity in Zinc-Blende InGaN Quantum Dot

The binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in zinc-blende (ZB) InGaN quantum dot (QD) is calculated in the framework of effective-mass envelope-function theory using the plane wave basis. It is shown that the donor binding energy is highly dependent on the impurity position, QD size and the external electric field. The symmetry of the electron probability distribution is broken and the maximum of the donor binding energy is shifted from the centre of QD in the presence of the external electric field. The degenerating energy levels for symmetrical positions with respect to the centre of QD are split. The splitting increases with the increase of QD height while the splitting increases up to a maximum value and then decreases with the increase of QD radius.     

High repetition rate Q-switched microchip Nd:YVO4 laser with pulse duration as short as 1.1 ns

We have demonstrated a compact and an efficient passively Q-switched microchip Nd:YVO₄ laser by using a composite semiconductor absorber as well as an output coupler. The composite semiconductor absorber was composed of an LT (low-temperature grown) In_0.25Ga_0.75As absorber and a pure GaAs absorber. To our knowledge, it was the first demonstration of the special absorber for Q-switching operation of microchip lasers. Laser pulses with durations of 1.1 ns were generated with a 350 μm thick laser crystal and the repetition rate of the pulses was as high as 4.6 MHz. The average output power was 120 mW at the pump power of 700 mW. Pulse duration can be varied from 1.1 to 15.7 ns by changing the cavity length from 0.45 to 5 mm. Pulses with duration of 1.67 and 2.41 ns were also obtained with a 0.7 mm thick laser crystal and a 1 mm thick laser crystal, respectively.     

Water vapor adsorption onto activated carbons prepared from cattle manure compost (CMC)

Activated carbons were prepared from cattle manure compost (CMC) using zinc chloride activation. The structural and surface chemical characteristics of CMC-based activated carbons were determined by N₂ adsorption-desorption and Boehm titration, respectively. The water vapor adsorption properties of the prepared activated carbons with various pore structure and surface nature were examined, and the mechanism of water adsorbed onto activated carbon was also discussed. The results show that the adsorption of water vapor on carbons begins at specific active sites at low relative humidity (RH), followed by micropore filling at medium RH through the formation of pentamer cluster of water molecules in the narrow micropores. The water vapor adsorption capacity of activated carbon is predominantly dependent on its pore volume and surface area. Although capillary condensation is not the mechanism for water adsorption onto activated carbon, water can adsorb on narrow mesopore to some extent.     

A novel cationic emulsifier used for preparing slow-cracking and rapid-setting asphalt: Synthesis,surface activity,and emulsification ability

A novel cationic emulsifier including nonionic fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether was synthesized in two steps from epichlorohydrin, octadecyl dimethyl amine, and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether, and the intermediate product could also be used as an emulsifier. Their structures were characterized by FTIR, and the surface activities were investigated by surface tension, electrical conductivity, and HLB. The obtained results indicated that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the final product was low, 0.442 mmol/L, and the surface tension at the CMC was 41.02 mN/m. The hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) value was 12, which meet the requirements of asphalt emulsifiers. A series of experiments of the emulsified asphalt prepared by the emulsifiers were performed. The results showed that the emulsified asphalt could be stably stored for more than 5 days when the emulsifier was 2 wt% and the pH value was between 3 and 4. The result of demulsification experiments showed that the emulsifier is a slow-cracking and rapid-setting asphalt emulsifier.     

Platinum/carbon black composites as counter electrodes for high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Low-cost counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are prepared using platinum/carbon black (Pt/CB) composites via a spin-coating process....     

Enantioconvergent Biocatalytic Redox Isomerization

Alcohol dehydrogenases can act as powerful catalysts in the preparation of optically pure γ‐hydroxy‐δ‐lactones by means of an enantioconvergent dynamic redox isomerization of readily available Achmatowicz‐type pyranones. Imitating the traditionally metal‐mediated “borrowing hydrogen” approach to shuffle hydrides across molecular architectures and interconvert functional groups, this chemoinspired and purely biocatalytic interpretation effectively expands the enzymatic toolbox and provides new opportunities in the assembly of multienzyme cascades and tailor‐made cellular factories.