High Thermoelectric Performance in PbSe–NaSbSe2 Alloys from Valence Band Convergence and Low Thermal Conductivity

PbSe is an attractive thermoelectric material due to its favorable electronic structure, high melting point, and lower cost compared to PbTe. Herein, the hitherto unexplored alloys of PbSe with NaSbSe₂ (NaPb_mSbSe_m+2) are described and the most promising p‐type PbSe‐based thermoelectrics are found among them. Surprisingly, it is observed that below 500 K, NaPb_mSbSe_m+2 exhibits unorthodox semiconducting‐like electrical conductivity, despite possessing degenerate carrier densities of ≈10²⁰ cm^?3. It is shown that the peculiar behavior derives from carrier scattering by the grain boundaries. It is further demonstrated that the high solubility of NaSbSe₂ in PbSe augments both the thermoelectric properties while maintaining a rock salt structure. Namely, density functional theory calculations and photoemission spectroscopy demonstrate that introduction of NaSbSe₂ lowers the energy separation between the L‐ and Σ‐valence bands and enhances the power factors under 700 K. The crystallographic disorder of Na⁺, Pb²⁺, and Sb³⁺ moreover provides exceptionally strong point defect phonon scattering yielding low lattice thermal conductivities of 1–0.55 W m^‐1 K^‐1 between 400 and 873 K without nanostructures. As a consequence, NaPb₁₀SbSe₁₂ achieves maximum ZT ≈1.4 near 900 K when optimally doped. More importantly, NaPb₁₀SbSe₁₂ maintains high ZT across a broad temperature range, giving an estimated record ZT_avg of ≈0.64 between 400 and 873 K, a significant improvement over existing p‐type PbSe thermoelectrics.     

红细胞体积分布宽度对心力衰竭患者病情及预后转归的评估价值

目的:研究红细胞体积分布宽度(RDW)对心力衰竭患者病情及预后转归的评估价值。方法:将我院心内科收治的110例心力衰竭患者(研究组)根据病情分为NYHAⅡ级30例、Ⅲ级46例、Ⅳ级34例,另选择同期健康体检者110例作为对照组。同时根据患者6个月内预后情况分为存活组(91例)和死亡组(19例)。比较分析各组患者RDW水平、死亡率,采用单因素和多因素logistic回归分析心力衰竭预后的影响因素。结果:研究组中,NYHAⅢ~Ⅳ级患者RDW水平明显高于对照组,且随着NYHA分级的增加,RDW水平明显升高(P0.05)。NYHAⅣ级患者死亡率明显高于NYHAⅡ、Ⅲ级患者(P0.05)。与死亡组比较,存活组年龄明显较小,入院时Hcy、CRP、GLU、RDW、NT-pro BNP明显降低,Hb、RBC、LVEF水平明显升高(P 0.05)。年龄、入院时NT-pro BNP和RDW是心力衰竭的独立危险因素,而LVEF水平是独立保护因素(P0.05)。结论:RDW可反映心力衰竭患者的病情严重程度,对于预后转归评估具有重要指导意义。     

The response of barley to rainfall and temperature in different tillage and crop rotation systems in semi‐arid conditions

Barley is a widespread crop of choice in the Spanish agricultural farming. A 7‐year field study was realised to examine the barley yield data. Weather conditions were analysed and taken into account when considering the influence of the tillage systems (TS) and previous crop on barley. In general, barley yield increased with tillage intensity; however the analysis of tiller‐count and thousand‐grain weight of barley did not present significant differences within the different TS. Barley monoculture presented lower yield than the barley in rotation with fallow or vetch, especially in those years characterised by a greater annual rainfall than average over the 7 years of study (290 mm). Also, we observed that the presence of weeds was strongly influenced by the combined effects of the environmental conditions, TS, and previous crop. It was observed that high rainfall during sowing period or shortly after had a high positive impact on production efficiency and yields. Unexpectedly, the study demonstrated positive correlation between high December temperatures and resulting barley yield. It would be useful to take into account these results when selecting the crop variety for conservation planning in Mediterranean areas.     

笑弧在面部宽窄不同的个体中对微笑美学的影响

目的:研究面部宽窄不同女性的笑弧对微笑美学的影响。方法:选取女性正位微笑像1张,应用Adobe Photoshop CS5软件对笑弧和面部宽窄进行修改,由正畸医生和非专业人士对照片的微笑魅力值进行评判。结果:笑弧和面部宽窄程度在魅力微笑的判别中无交互作用(P0.05)。两组对理想的笑弧、略窄的面型和适宜的面型的魅力微笑判别分值较高(P0.05)。非专业人群中,在三种笑弧中,除了很窄的面型,魅力微笑的分值均随着面型的增宽降低(P0.05)。专业人群中,对于平坦的笑弧,除了很宽的面型,魅力微笑的分值随着面型的增宽而增加(P0.05);对于理想的笑弧,魅力微笑的分值随着面型的过宽或过窄而降低,但仍高于其他两种笑弧(P0.05);对于弯曲的笑弧,除了很窄的面型,魅力微笑的分值随着面型的增宽而降低(P0.05)。结论:笑弧和面部宽窄对魅力微笑的判别具有一定影响。不同人群对笑弧及面部宽窄与微笑美学的认识也存在差异,在正畸治疗中应根据患者面部宽窄合理的选择治疗方案。     

施硫对'豫麦50'籽粒灌浆特性及产量的影响

选用弱筋小麦品种‘豫麦50’为材料,通过大田试验研究了较高供氮水平下（施纯氮330kg／hm^2）施用低量（S20kg／hm^2）、中量（S60kg／hm^2）和高量（S100kg／hm^2）硫肥对小麦籽粒灌浆特性和产量的影响。结果显示,不同施硫处理的小麦籽粒灌浆进程均呈“慢-快-慢”的S型曲线,拟合的Logistic方程决定系数均大于0．9932,并达到极显著水平;灌浆持续期（T）、渐增期平均灌浆速率（V1）,快增期和缓增期持续期（T2、T3）、灌浆期各阶段干物质积累量（m1、m2、m3）和理论最大千粒重（K）均随施硫量增加而提高,并以中硫处理的各项灌浆参数表现较优;中硫处理的千粒重（46．47g）和籽粒产量（7416．0kg／hm^2）显著高于低硫处理,极显著高于对照（不施硫）和高硫处理。表明在当前较高施氮水平下,每公顷施纯硫60kg可有效改善小麦灌浆特性,显著提高籽粒产量。     

From coarse-grain to all-atom: toward multiscale analysis of protein landscapes

Multiscale methods are becoming increasingly promising as a way to characterize the dynamics of large protein systems on biologically relevant time-scales. The underlying assumption in multiscale simulations is that it is possible to move reliably between different resolutions. We present a method that efficiently generates realistic all-atom protein structures starting from the C(alpha) atom positions, as obtained for instance from extensive coarse-grain simulations. The method, a reconstruction algorithm for coarse-grain structures (RACOGS), is validated by reconstructing ensembles of coarse-grain structures obtained during folding simulations of the proteins src-SH3 and S6. The results show that RACOGS consistently produces low energy, all-atom structures. A comparison of the free energy landscapes calculated using the coarse-grain structures versus the all-atom structures shows good correspondence and little distortion in the protein folding landscape.     

Growth and reproductive patterns of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Undaria pinnatifida</Emphasis> sporophytes in a cultivation farm in Busan,Korea

Monthly growth and reproduction of Undaria pinnatifida sporophytes were examined over a period of 5 months in a cultivation farm in Korea. A total of 11 characters of Undaria were measured to determine a reliable morphological character representing its growth and reproduction. Plant weight of Undaria sporophytes increased steadily over the experimental period, but it increased in four different ways. Undaria pinnatifida increased body weight by growth in length and width (October–early December), and by growth in width with the thickening of blade and stipe when sporophytes began to be fertile (December–January). In the middle of January, growth in length and width had almost stopped with the maturation of Undaria sporophytes. Finally, the weight of Undaria increased again by growth in width at the end of February. Present results indicate that Undaria sporophytes increase body weight by growth in length and width at different times, and the relationship between reproduction and vegetative growth is exclusive. Plant weight was positively correlated and fitted well with stipe width and blade width. The blade of Undaria was very thin (ca. 254 μm) and breakable by wave action, but its stipe was strong and relatively thick (ca. 8.7 mm). Furthermore, the fertility of U. pinnatifida was fitted better with stipe width than blade width. Thus, we suggest that the stipe width is the most feasible character with which to estimate the growth and reproduction of U. pinnatifida sporophytes in the cultivation farm.     

Temperature as a determinant factor for increased and reproducible in vitro pollen germination in Arabidopsis thaliana

Despite much effort, a robust protocol for in vitro germination of Arabidopsis thaliana pollen has been elusive. Here we show that controlled temperatures, a largely disregarded factor in previous studies, and a simple optimized medium, solidified or liquid, yielded pollen germination rates above 80% and pollen tube lengths of hundreds of microns, with both Columbia and Landsberg erecta (Ler) ecotypes. We found that pollen germination and tube growth were dependent on pollen density in both liquid and solid medium. Pollen germination rates were not substantially affected by flower or plant age. The quartet1 mutation negatively affected pollen germination, especially in the Ler ecotype. This protocol will facilitate functional analyses of insertional mutants affecting male gametophyte function, and should allow detailed gene expression analyses during pollen tube growth. Arabidopsis thaliana can now be included on the list of plant species that are suitable models for physiological studies of pollen tube elongation and tip growth.     

Effect of Doubled-CO2 Concentration on the Ultrastructure of Chloroplasts from Medicago sativa and Setaria italica

It has been reported in quite a number of literatures that doubled CO2 concentration increased the photosynthetic rate and dry matter production of C3 plants, but substantially affected C4 plants little. However, why may CO2 enrichment promote growth and either no change or decrease reproductive allocation of the C3 species, but havinag no effects on growth characteristics of the C4 plants? So far, there has been no satisfactory explanation on that mentioned above, except the differences in their CO2 compensatory points. In the past, although some studies on ultrastructure of the chloroplasts under doubled CO2 concentration were limitedly conducted. Almost all the relevant experimental materials were only from C3 plants not from C4 plants, and even though the results were of inconsistancy. Thereby, it needs to verify whether the differences in photosynthesis of C3 and C4 plants at doubled CO2 level is caused by the difference in their chloroplast deterioration. Experiments to this subject were conducted at the Botanical Garden of Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica in 1993 and 1994. Both experimental materials from C3 plant alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and C4 plant foxtail millet (Setaria italica) were cultivated in the cylindrical open-top chambers (2.2 m in diameter × 2.4 m in height) with aluminum frames covered by polyethylene film. Natural air or air with 350× 10-6 CO2 were blown from the bottom of the chamber space with constant temperature between inside and outside of the chamber 〈0.2℃〉. Electron microscopic observation revealed that the ultrastructure of the chloroplasts from C3 plant Medicago sativa and C4 plant Seteria italica growing under the same doubled CO2 concentration were quite different from each other. The differential characteristics in ultrastructure of chloro plasts displayed mainly in the configuration of thylakoid membrances and the accumulation of starch grains. They were as follows: 1. The most striking feature was the building up of starch grains in the chloroplasts of the bundle sheath cells (BSCs) and the mesophyll cells (MCs) at doubled CO2 concentra tion. The starch grains appeared centrifugally first in the BSCs and then in the chloroplast of the other MCs. It was worthy to note that the starch grains in the chloroplasts of C4 plant Setaria ira/ica were much more than those of the C3 plant Medicago sativa . The decline of photosynthesis in the doubled CO2-grown C4 plants might be caused by an over accumulation of starch grains, that deformed the chloroplast even demaged the stroma thylakoids and grana. There might exsist a correlation between the comformation of thylakoid system and starch grain accumulation, namely conversion and transfer of starch need energy from ATP, and coupling factor (CF) for ATP formation distributed mainly on protoplastic surface (PSu) of stroma thylakoid membranes, as well as end and margin membranes of grana thylakoids. Thereby, these results could provide a conclusive evidence for the reason of non effectiveness on growth characteristics of C4 plant. 2. Under normal condition , the mature chlolroplats of higher plants usually develop complete and regularly arranged photosynthetic membrane systems . Chloroplasts from the C4 plant Setaria italica, however, exerted significant changes on stacking degree, grana width and stroma thylakoid length under doubled CO2 concentration; In these changes, the grana stacks were smaller and more numerous, and the number of thylakoids per granum was greatly increased, and the stroma thylakoid was greatly lengthened as compared to those of the control chloroplasts. But the grana were mutually intertwined by stroma thylakoid. The integrity of some of the grana were damaged due to the augmentation of the intrathylakoid space . Similarly, the stroma thylakoids were also expanded. In case. the plant was seriously effected by doubled CO2 concentration as observed in C4 plant Setaria italica , its chloroplasts contained merely the stroma (matrix) with abundant starch grains, while grana and stroma thylakoid membranes were unrecognizable, or occasionally a few residuous pieces of thylakoid membranes could be visualized, leaving a situation which appeared likely to be chloroplast deterioration. However, under the same condition the C3 plant Medicago sativa possessed normally developed chloroplasts, with intact grana and stroma thylakoid membranes. Its chloroplasts contained grana intertwined with stroma thylakoid membranes, and increased in stacking degree and granum width, in spite of more accumulated starch grains within the chloroplasts. These configuration changes of the thylakoid system were in consistant with the results of the authors another study on chloroplast function, viz. the increased capacity of chloroplasts for light absorption and efficiency of PSⅡ.     

Study on the Systematic Position of Tetraena Maxim

Tetraena Maxim. is an endemic genus of Inner Mongolia and the desert region of Central Asia. It is also a rare and endangered plant. Some botanists had made some research on the systematic positions of this genus, but their views are debatable. Through a comprehensive study: research history, morphology (pistil, fruit), pollen grains, chromosomes, the authors suggest that this genus be separated from Zygophylloideae (Zygophyllaceae, Takhtajan. 1987) and a new subfamily-Tetraenoideae be set up for it. A key to subfamilies of Zygophyllaceae (sen. str.) is provided. The systematic position of Tetraena Maxim. is: Rutales-Zygophyllaceae -Tetraenoideae-Tetraena.