Formation of surface membranes in developing mammalian hair fibres

Mammalian hair fibres result from complex mechanisms involving synthesis, assembly and stabilisation of keratin proteins in the follicle. The developing hair shaft consists of outer cuticle cells surrounding cortical and medullary (optional) cell types. Presumptive fibre cuticle (FC) is contained by the inner root sheath (IRS) consisting of IRS cuticle, Huxley and Henle cells which are in turn enclosed in an outer root sheath (ORS) of epidermal-like cells. In the current structural studies we have used energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (Zeiss 902A) on Merino sheep skin biopsies to examine the fine sequence of morphological changes involved in forming the fibre surface membrane and the associated underlying structural bands comprising the a-layer and exocuticle. Prior to the development of the exocuticle, FC cells demonstrate a typical plasma-membrane apposed to IRS cuticle plasma-membranes separated by an intercellular space. The formation of exocuticular lamellae is followed by degradation of the residual FC surface membrane and the appearance of intercellular laminae demonstrating a stained central band. As maturation continues cleavage between IRS cuticle and FC occurs along this central band liberating hair into the pilary canal. The mature surface consists of keratinized cells containing a well developed exocuticle and a-layer coated with paired lamina (presumably two lipid containing bilayers) of material approximately 10–12 nm thick derived from the intercellular laminae. The current observations show FC surface formation is similar to process occurring in epidermal stratum corneum and that the cuticle surface membrane of mammalian fibres is not derived from a modified plasma-membrane as previously documented.     

Vector potential gauge for superconducting regular polygons

An approach to the Ginzburg-Landau problem of superconducting polygons is developed, based on the exact fulfillment of superconducting boundary conditions along the boundary of the sample. To this end an analytical gauge transformation for the vector potential A is found which gives A _n = 0 for the normal component along the boundary line of an arbitrary regular polygon. The use of the new gauge reduces the Ginzburg-Landau problem of superconducting polygons in external magnetic fields to an eigenvalue problem in a basis set of functions obeying Neumann boundary conditions. The advantages of this approach, especially for low magnetic fields, are illustrated and novel vortex patterns are obtained which can be probed experimentally. Received 28 February 2002 and Received in final form 12 April 2002 Published online 6 June 2002     

Calculation of ion energy distributions of argon excimer ions generated in helicon plasma

A program is developed to calculate the ion energy distributions （IEDs） of Ar2^＋ making use of a simplified kinetic model with a combination of Monte Carlo method. Several coefficients are used to realize good match between the calculated and measured results. Some important assumptions are confirmed： argon excimer ions have short lifetime, hence they are formed in a short range before the collecting electrode. The excimer ions that encounter collisions will be discarded because they turn to other ion species after they collide with argon atoms. From the calculated results some plasma parameters such as the cross section or neutral density in discharge could be evaluated.     

Presheath in Fully Ionized Collisional Plasma in a Magnetic Field

The quasineutral presheath layer at the boundary of fully ionized, collisional, and magnetized plasma with an ambipolar flow to an adjacent absorbing wall was analyzed using a two fluid magneto‐hydrodynamic model. The plasma is magnetized by a uniform magnetic field B , imposed parallel to the wall. The analysis did not assume that the dependence of the particle density on the electric potential in the presheath is according to the Boltzmann equilibrium, and the dependence of the mean collision time τ on the varying plasma density within the presheath was not neglected. Based on the model equations, algebraic expressions were derived for the dependence of the plasma density, electron and ion velocities, and the electrostatic potential on the position within the presheath. The solutions of the model equations depended on two parameters: Hall parameter (β ), and the ratio (γ ), where γ = ZT_e /(ZT_e + T_i ), and T_e , T_i and Z are the electron and ion temperatures and ionicity, respectively. The characteristic scale of the presheath extension is several times r_i /β , where r_i is the ion radius at the ion sound velocity. The electric potential could have a non monotonic distribution in the presheath. The ions are accelerated to the Bohm velocity (sound velocity) in the presheath mainly near the presheath‐sheath boundary, in a layer of thickness ～r_i /β . The electric field accelerates the ions in the whole presheath if their velocity in the wall direction exceeds their thermal velocity. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

云层间闪电在电缆上产生的电流和电压

文章在传输线理论的基础上，推导出了云层间闪电时在架空电缆上产生的电流和电压计算公式。对钢屏蔽护套电缆中产生的雷电流和雷电压进行了计算和分析，并提出了有效的防护措施。     

滑套固井压裂起裂压力及影响因素

起裂压力高是滑套固井压裂面临的主要问题。根据滑套固井压裂的特征,建立地应力条件下滑套固井压裂计算模型,运用有限元法及岩石抗拉强度准则计算起裂压力,通过长庆油田桃X井的实例进行验证。结果表明:水平地应力差及端口方位角是滑套固井压裂起裂压力的主要影响因素,随着水平地应力差的增大,起裂压力降低,端口方位角增大时,起裂压力增大;地层岩石的弹性模量对起裂压力有较大影响,随着地层岩石弹性模量的增大,起裂压力增大;水泥环厚度对起裂压力的影响规律与水泥环和地层的弹性模量有关,当地层弹性模量大于水泥环弹性模量时,起裂压力随水泥环厚度的增大而减小,当地层弹性模量小于水泥环弹性模量时,起裂压力随水泥环厚度的增大而增大。     

An overview of lipid membrane supported by colloidal particles

In recent years, original hybrid assemblies composed of a particle core surrounded by a lipid shell emerged as promising entities for various biotechnological applications. Their broadened bio-potentialities, ranging from model membrane systems or biomolecule screening supports, to substance delivery reservoirs or therapeutic vectors, are furthered by their versatility of composition due to the possible wide variation in the particle nature and size, as well as in the lipid formulation. The synthesis, the characteristics, and the uses of these Lipid/Particle assemblies encountered in the literature so far are reviewed, and classified according to the spherical core size in order to highlight general trends. Moreover, several criteria are particularly discussed: i) the interactions involved between the particles and the lipids, and implicitly the assembly elaboration mechanism, ii) the most suited techniques for an accurate characterization of the entities from structural and physicochemical points of view, and iii) the remarkable properties of the solid-supported lipid membrane obtained.     

负偏压离子鞘及气体压强影响表面波放电过程的粒子模拟

由于表面电磁波沿着介质-等离子体分界面传播,而很难通过对传统的表面波等离子体(SWP)源施加负偏压实现金属材料溅射,因此限制了SWP源的使用范围.近期,一种基于负偏压离子鞘导波的SWP源克服了这个问题,且其加热机理是表面等离激元(SPP)的局域增强电场激励气体放电产生.但是该SWP源放电过程的影响因素并未研究清晰,导致其最佳放电条件没有获得.本文采用粒子(PIC)和蒙特卡罗碰撞(MCC)相结合的模拟方法,探讨了负偏压离子鞘及气体压强影响SWP电离发展过程的放电机理.模拟结果表明,负偏压和气体压强的大小影响了离子鞘的厚度、SPP的激励和波模的时空转化,从而表现出不同的放电形貌.进一步分析确定,在负偏压200 V左右和气体压强40 Pa附近,该SWP源的放电效果最佳.     

不同成分等离子体鞘层的玻姆判据

在一维平板鞘层中采用流体模型分别研究了不同成分无碰撞等离子体鞘层的玻姆判据.通过拟牛顿法数值模拟了含有电子、离子、负离子以及二次电子的等离子体鞘层玻姆判据.结果表明二次电子发射增加了鞘层离子马赫数的临界值,且器壁发射二次电子温度越高,离子马赫数临界值越小.负离子使离子马赫数临界值减小.而在含有二次电子和负离子的等离子体鞘层中,当负离子较少时,二次电子发射对离子马赫数临界值影响较大;当负离子增加时,离子马赫数的临界值则主要受负离子的影响. 关键词： 鞘层 等离子体 玻姆判据     

磁绝缘传输线压力平衡模型的修正

 由于电子的发射,在磁绝缘传输线（MITL）的阴极表面附近会形成一层电子鞘层。当传输线工作在稳定态时,电子鞘层的边缘满足压力平衡。在此基础上,考虑了电子鞘层内部的碰撞,利用PIC计算方法对MITL的电压、阴极电流和阳极电流的关系进行修正,使得阴阳极电流在饱和流条件下与模拟计算结果更加符合,最大误差由9%降到3%。碰撞系数关于电压的拟合曲线适合于工作电压为2～7 MV的理想MITL。