Influence of target surface degradation on the properties of r.f. magnetron‐sputtered calcium phosphate coatings

This paper reports a detailed study of how repeated r.f. magnetron sputtering from a hydroxyapatite (HA) powder target affects the nature and reproducibility of a sequential series of thin‐film coatings deposited onto Ti6Al4V substrates. An evaluation of the effective lifespan of the HA sputter targets and the reproducibility of the calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings produced from them has been made from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, XPS and, as appropriate, atomic force microscopy and SEM/energy dispersive x‐ray analyses. The annulus region of the target surface, from which sputtering under r.f. magnetron conditions normally occurs, showed severe surface degradation after only one deposition run, as indicated by significant PO₄^3? and OH^? depletion. This deterioration continued after each subsequent deposition cycle but to a much lesser extent than that observed in the initial sputtering period. The layers produced from all of the sputter runs contained the expected Ca²⁺ and PO₄^3? species characteristic of a CaP system but were OH^? deficient in the as‐deposited state. However, the chemical and morphological properties of the coatings did not change significantly until after the third consecutive sputter cycle. Hence, these data indicate that, even though a significant level of degradation of the HA target occurs at the outset of the sputtering procedure, the general plasma conditions employed here have a dominant influence on the coating properties until a critical degradation condition is met. As such, the compacted HA powder targets of interest can have a life‐cycle greater than single usage without detriment to the chemistry and morphology of the coatings produced from them. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

激光核聚变中的一种X光解谱方法

本文在SAND迭代法的基础上,采取带有周期性光滑化的限幅迭代方法,求解激光核聚变中的X光能谱取得了较好的结果。这个方法适用于根据亚千X射线谱仪、多道k边滤波谱仪和多道滤波-荧光谱仪的测量结果回推靶等离子体的X射线能谱。计算结果表明,该方法完全抑制了数值不稳定性,消除了非物理的“负能谱”现象和解谱结果中的数值结构。特别是该方法对初始试探谱有很强的适应性,解谱计算结果与初始试探谱无关。     

Rate processes on fractals: Theory,simulations, and experiments

Heterogeneous kinetics are shown to differ drastically from homogeneous kinetics. For the elementary reaction A + A products we show that the diffusion-limited reaction rate is proportional tot ^– h[A]² or to [A]^x, whereh=1- d _s/2, X=1+2/d _s =(h-2)(h-1), andd _s is the effective spectral dimension. We note that ford = d _s =1, h =1/2 andX = 3, for percolating clustersd _s = 4/3,h = 1/3 andX = 5/2, while for dust ds <1, 1 >h > 1/2 and >X > 3. Scaling arguments, supercomputer simulations and experiments give a consistent picture. The interplay of energetic and geometric heterogeneity results in fractal-like kinetics and is relevant to excitation fusion experiments in porous membranes, films, and polymeric glasses. However, in isotopic mixed crystals, the geometric fractal nature (percolation clusters) dominates.     

Expression and Purification of ZNF191（243-368） in Three Expression Systems

ZNF191 （243-368）, a new human zinc finger protein, probably relates to some hereditary diseases and cancers, To obtain adequate amount of ZNF191（243-368） for the study of its property, structure and function, three different expression systems of inclusion-body, glutathione S-transferase （GST）, and hexahistidine （6 × His） were used and compared. Among these systems, the expression level of ZNFI91（243-368） was increased in inclusion body system under a higher isopropylthio-β-D-galactoside （IPTG） concentration, but the non-target proteins were also increased more, which made its purification more difficult and the yield lower. The expression of His-tag fusion protein was almost not affected by IPTG concentration, temperature and inducing time. At a high IPTG concentration the highest expression yield for GST fusion protein was obtained. And the fusion proteins can be partially purified by a single affinity chromatography step. The fusion protein systems show advantages for expression of these proteins.     

High-level expression of soluble human β-defensin-2 fused with green fluorescent protein in Escherichia coli cell-free system

Human β-defensin-2 (hBD2), a small cationic peptide, exhibits a broad range of antimicrobial activity and does not acquire any microbial resistance. To produce this uneasily detectable, degradable, and toxic polypeptide efficiently, an alternative approach based on the Escherichia coli cell-free biosynthesis system was proposed. The approach implies that a polypeptide of interest is synthesized as a fusion protein linked to a green fluorescent protein (GFP) through a cleavable spacer. With batch-mode operation, a significant amount of hBD2 fused with GFP (0.25 mg/mL) can be expressed in this cell-free system. The productivity of the fusion protein can be improved up to 1.2 mg/mL by employing a continuous-exchange cell-free system. Furthermore, the GFP moiety provides directly visible and quantitative monitoring of the polypeptide synthesis, and the product is soluble and stable. This work will be helpful in allowing the rapid and visible expression of other similar defensins using an in vitro cell-free system.     

基于课程标准的教学——以常见阴、阳离子的检验为例

以常见的阴、阳离子的检验为例，研究了如何实施基于标准的教学。校本教材的开发为标准、教材、教学、评价的一致性提供保障；以学生应知的和能做的驱动课堂活动；根据达成标准应有怎样的质量表现，试卷编制先于教学设计。课堂上，“教”“学”双方都明确学习目标，教师提供多种策略来满足学生多样的学习需要，如提供工具，搭建脚手架，并以“微”研究性学习的方式展开教学，给学生提供了充分的进步空间。     

Fluorescence lifetimes of diphenylhexatriene-containing probes reflect local probe concentrations: Application to the measurement of membrane fusion

An important process in the life of a cell is fusion between cellular membranes. This is the process by which two cellular compartments surrounded by different membranes join to become a single compartment surrounded by a single membrane, without significant loss of compartment contents. To demonstrate fusion, the cell biophysicist must demonstrate all three critical aspects of the process: (1) mixing of membrane components, (2) mixing of compartment contents; and (3) retention of compartment contents. Most commonly, accomplishing this involves the use of fluorescence probes. The general theme to the methods described involves some form of concentration-dependent quenching. An unique method developed in our laboratory utilizes the concentration dependence of the fluorescence lifetime of a phosphatidylcholine containing carboxyethyl diphenylhexatriene at position 2 and palmitic acid at position 1 of glycerol (DPHpPC). The fluorescence lifetime of this molecule and that of its parent fluorophore diphenylhexatriene (DPH) shorten dramatically as their two-dimensional concentrations in a membrane increase. This lifetime quenching can be described by dimer formation that reduces the symmetry of the DPH excited state. This phenomenon allows one to use the fluorescence lifetime to gain insight into the local concentration of probe in microscopic regions of a membrane. One application of this is in distinguishing lipid transfer between the outer leaflets of two contacting membrane bilayers from fusion between these membranes that leads to mixing of lipids in both the inner and outer leaflets of the membrane bilayers. This allows a single measurement to demonstrate fusion between membrane pairs.Abbreviations PEG poly(ethylene glycol) - Na₂EDTA ethyiene-diamine-tetraacedic acid, disodium salt - LUV large, unilamellar vesicles made by rapid extrusion technique - DPH 1,6-diphenyl-trans-1,3,5-hexatriene - DPHpPC 1-palmitoyl-2-[[[2-[4- (phenyl-trans-1,3,5-hexatrienyl)phenyl]ethyl]oxy]carbonyl]-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine - DPPC 1,2-dipalmitoyl-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine - PA palmitic acid - NBD-PE N-(7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)-PE - Rh-PE N-(lissamine Rhodamine B sulfoyl)-PE - R₁₈ octadecyl Rhodamine B chloride - ANTS 1-aminonaphthalene-3,6,8-trisulfonic acid - DPX N,N-p-xylylene-bis(pyradinium bromide)     

黑腔靶X光转换,输运的定量测量

为了测量黑腔靶X光引光效率、转换效率,我们设计了相应的分解靶(泄漏靶)实验,1989～1992年在″神光″装置上共进行了四次漏靶分解实验,利用灵敏度作了绝对标定的平响应X光二极管对漏靶注入孔、引光孔流出的X光角分布进行了测量,测出了x光角分布,得到了黑腔靶X光转换效率为50％～60％,引光效率约6％,为以后辐射驱动内爆研究的理论计算和靶的优化设计提供了重要的数据。     

A view and a review of the melting of alkali metal halide crystals

Summary A representational model, proposed to account for the physical changes that accompany the melting of alkali halides, was described in Part 1 [1]. The liquid is portrayed as undergoing continual dynamic structural reorganization of its constituent ions between individual small domains, zones of various regular, crystal-type arrays. These alternative arrangements are stabilized by the enthalpy of melting, which, in liquids, relaxes the restriction for solids that only the single, most stable, crystal structure can be present. The dynamic character of the melt accounts for its fluid character and the loss of long-range order [1, 2]. This model is extended here to consider the phase diagrams of binary, common ion, alkali halide mixtures comprehensively reviewed in [3]. Factors determining whether each of these yields a eutectic, or a solid solution, on cooling are discussed and several trends in the 70-phase diagrams are identified. Eutectic formation, involving maintenance of the liquid state below the melting points of the pure components, is ascribed to the participation, in an extended dynamic equilibrium, of additional domains having the regular structures characteristic of double salts. The known crystalline double binary halides [3], Li/Cs or Rb/F, Cl, Br or I, melt at temperatures well below those of the simpler pure component salts. It is concluded that the set/liq model for melting, proposed in [1, 2], accounts for some important properties of the phase diagrams presented in [3].