Interaction of Cationic Manganese Porphyrins with DNA. A Binding Model

The DNA cleavage properties of two cationic manganese porphyrins possessing different peripheral substituents were compared. The identical nature of the strand scission patterns of the porphyrins on a 139 base pair restriction fragment of pBR-322 DNA, along with other evidence, suggests that the porphyrin is end-on bound via the minor groove in a melted or partially melted region of DNA. This unusual binding mode underscores the potential of outisde binding cationic metalloporphyrins as probes for low melting regions of DNA     

Growth of single crystals of copper and their thermal profile estimation

Copper crystals have been grown by Czochralski technique in a 6-bar argon gas environment. X-ray analysis shows that these are single crystals and are strain-free. A slight pressure environment that is truly hydrostatic seems to improve the quality of the crystals. Thermal profile estimation results show that the values of temperature which decrease upto the neck region are same in magnitude as those measured during the experiments and that necking improves the thermal profile and, consequently, the crystal quality. No facet formation has been observed in these crystals.     

金属蛋白研究中几个值得注意的动向

本文叙述了金属蛋白和金属酶研究中近年来几个值得注意的发展动向，即与金属离子相关的疾病（特别是神经退行性疾病）、金属离子在蛋白质的折叠、聚集和装配中的作用，金属伴侣分子、金属蛋白的设计和构建、金属蛋白与DNA相互作用。     

Nanophotonics in China: Overviews and highlights

The major purpose of this paper is to present a brief overview of the history and the current status of nanophotonics research in China, and to highlight some research results in the past years made by the Chinese nanophotonics communities. I will first briefly introduce the principles of nanophotonics and several of its major disciplines including photonic crystals, plasmonics and metamaterials, and related artificial acoustic structures. Then I will highlight some major progresses made by Chinese research groups in these areas with the selection made merely based on my personal taste. The aim is to let these results better known and appreciated by researchers in the Chinese communities of nanophotonics and related areas, and provide better opportunities of researchers in different areas to have more communications. I also hope that this brief introduction will help to make a better bridge to connect Chinese nanophotonics communities with the broader communities in the world.     

Single quantum dot nanolaser

Recent theoretical and experimental progress on nanolasers is reviewed with a focus on the emission properties of devices operating with a few or even an individual semiconductor quantum dot as a gain medium. Concepts underlying the design and operation of these devices, microscopic models describing light‐matter interaction and semiconductor effects, as well as recent experimental results and lasing signatures are discussed. In particular, a critical review of the “self‐tuned gain” mechanism which gives rise to quantum‐dot mode coupling in the off‐resonant case is provided. Furthermore recent advances in the modeling of single quantum dot lasers beyond the artificial atom model are presented with a focus on the exploration of similarities and differences between the atomic and semiconductor systems.     

Nanorings in planar confinement: the role of repulsive surfaces on the formation of lacuna smectics

ABSTRACT

We study the structure and liquid-crystalline phase behaviour of a model of confined non-convex circular soft-repulsive nanorings in a planar slit geometry using molecular-dynamics simulation. The separation distance between the structureless parallel soft-repulsive walls is made large enough to allow for the formation of a distinct bulk phase in the central region of the box which is in coexistence with the adsorbed fluid thus allowing the analysis of single-wall effects. As the density of the particles is increased, the fluid adsorbs (wets) onto the planar surfaces leading to the formation of well-defined smectic-A layers with a spacing proportional to the diameter of the rings. An analysis of the nematic order parameter at distances perpendicular to the surface reveals that the particles in each layer exhibit anti-nematic behaviour and planar (edge-on) anchoring relative to the short symmetry axis of the rings. This behaviour is in stark contrast to the behaviour observed in convex disc-like particles that have the tendency to form nematic (discotic) structures with homeotropic (face-on) anchoring. The smectic phases formed by nanorings in the bulk and under confinement are characterised by the formation of low-density layered liquid-crystalline states with large voids, referred to here as lacuna smectic phases. In contrast to what is typically found for confined liquid-crystalline systems involving convex particles, no apparent biaxiality is found for nanorings in planar confinement. We argue that formation of the low-density lacuna smectic layers with planar anchoring is a consequence of the non-convex shape of the circular rings that allow for interpenetration between the particles as observed for nanorings under bulk conditions [C. Avendaño, G. Jackson, E.A. Müller and F.A. Escobedo, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, 9699 (2016); H.H. Wensink and C. Avendaño, Phys. Rev. E 94, 062704 (2016)].     

DNA纤维的X射线衍射分析与双螺旋结构的发现

概述了DNA化学结构式确立的过程,介绍了x射线衍射分析的概念、原理和方法,阐述了物理学家威尔金斯和物理化学家富兰克林在用实验事实证明DNA双螺旋结构方面所作出的巨大贡献。     

电控液晶光阀中的指向矢分布特性

液晶分子具有介电和光学各向异性,在外电场作用下,液晶指向矢将会重新分布,具有高效的光学相位调制能力.本文从实验和理论角度对电控液晶光阀的光学调制特性进行了研究,结果表明:光阀阈值电压约为4V,且当外加电压高于阈值电压时,液晶光阀的透射强度随外加电压表现出非周期性特性.根据液晶连续体弹性理论,对电场作用下液晶光阀的指向矢分布特性进行数值分析,分析结果表明液晶光阀对透射光强的非周期调制特性取决于液晶体系的偏转状态,为研究液晶的偏振光调制特性提供理论依据及实验基础.     

Field-induced phase transitions and reversible field-induced inversion of chirality in tilted smectic phases of bent-core mesogens

Three homologous achiral five-ring bent-core mesogens are presented where 4-chlororesorcinol is the central core and the aromatic rings are linked by ester groups. These compounds form smectic phases with a tilted arrangement of the molecules (tilt angle ≈ 45^°). On cooling the isotropic liquid this phase adopts a fan-like texture which shows for two homologues at relatively high electric fields ( 25-35V μm^-1) an antiferroelectric electro-optical response based on the collective rotation of the molecules around their long axes. At lower temperature the application of a sufficiently high electric field leads to a continuous transition into a non-birefringent texture which exhibits randomly distributed domains of opposite handedness. These domains can be reversibly switched into a state of opposite chirality by reversal of the field polarity. This switching is bistable and shows a current response typical for a ferroelectric ground state. The possible mechanism of the field-induced phase transition, of the ferroelectric switching and of the field-induced inversion of the chirality is discussed on the base of XRD, ¹³C- and ¹H-NMR investigations, dielectric and electro-optical measurements.     

Frustrated structure of an anticlinic-like smectic-C phase

We present a polarising optical microscopy study of the low-temperature anticlinic-like tilted mesophase of the liquid-crystal compound octylphenyl-2-chloro-4-(p-cyano-benzoyloxy) (DB₈Cl). This mesophase has been described as a bilayer smectic structure in which the molecules within each layer are organised in an anticlinic way. The optical textures observed in samples with planar orientation show a double stripe pattern, with the lines aligned parallel to the rubbing direction, characteristic of a double periodic modulation of the refractive index of the material. The long-period modulation is temperature dependent and disappears for thin sample cells (< 5μm). The short-period modulation is nearly independent of the thickness of the cells. The experimental results are analysed in terms of a model which considers that there is a special distribution of the principal optical axis which may be in or out of the polariser-analyser plane. The observed periodic variation of the principal optical axis could not be interpreted in terms of the original structure proposed for this phase. DB₈Cl presents a structure formed by dimers that can be viewed as flexible bent-core-like molecules, showing similarities with phases found in banana-like systems, but exhibiting a much more complex structure.