Search

The purpose of this study is to analyze the damage of antireflective (AR) coating over potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystal subjected to multi-pulse laser irradiation at low flux under vacuum. Fresh silica AR was characterized as a reference; Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), profilometer, and Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscope Photo-induced Force Microscope (SNOM-PiFM) were employed to analyze the characteristics of coatings. The experimental results indicated that the damage of AR coating over the KDP crystal was mainly caused by partial exfoliation, which exposed silica particles beneath the surface. It was found that the accumulated tensile stress led to coating damage with the increase of laser pulse. The initial coating damage was observed to extend and interconnect to form large-area exfoliation. Splitting mechanism of SiO–Si TO3 was observed at vibration mode peaks of 1064 cm−1 and 1096 cm−1showing progressing irradiation damage. Based on this study, it would be helpful to suppress the damage probability of AR coating over KDP crystal applied in high-power laser systems. Moreover, the applicability of SNOM-PiFM method to study the Infrared Radiation (IR) spectra of ultra-thin coatings with transparent substrates was proposed.

We study the detection of multipartite entanglement based on the generalized local uncertainty relations. A sufficient criterion for the entanglement of four-partite quantum systems is presented in terms of the local uncertainty relations. Detailed examples are given to illustrate the advantages of our criterion. The approach is generalized to general multipartite entanglement cases.

Pseudomonas are ubiquitously occurring microorganisms and are known for their ability to produce antimicrobials. An endophytic bacterial strain NP-1 T, isolated from Eucalyptus dunnii leaves, exhibits antifungal properties against five tested phytopathogenic fungi. The strain is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium containing a single polar flagellum. It is strictly aerobic, grows at 4–37 °C, 2–5% NaCl, and pH 3–7. The 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that NP-1 T belongs to the Pseudomonas genus. Phylogenetic analysis based on four concatenated partial genes (16S rDNA, gyrB, rpoB and rpoD) and the phylogenomic tree indicated that NP-1 T belongs to Pseudomonas fluorescens lineage but is distinct from any known Pseudomonas species. The G + C mol % of NP-1 T genome is 63.96, and the differences between NP-1 T and related species are larger than 1. The digital DNA-DNA hybridization and tetranucleotide signatures are 23.8 and 0.97, which clearly separates strain NP-1 T from its closest neighbours, Pseudomonas coleopterorum and Pseudomonas rhizosphaerae. Its phenotypic and chemotaxonomic features confirmed its differentiation from related taxa. The results from this polyphasic approach support the classification of NP-1 T as a novel species of Pseudomonas, and the name of Pseudomonas eucalypticola is thus proposed for this strain, whose type is NP-1 T (= CCTCC M2018494T = JCM 33572 T).

Confocal Raman spectroscopy (CRS) can provide information about oocyte competency through measurement of changes in the macromolecular architecture during oocyte development and maturation. Hitherto most spectroscopic studies have been limited to fixed oocytes due to the inherent difficulties working with live cells. Here we report the first three-dimensional images of living murine oocytes using CRS. We show that fixation induces significant changes in the macromolecular chemistry compared to living oocytes. A band at 1602 cm−1, assigned to a marker for mitochondria function was found in living oocytes but absent from fixed oocytes providing an in vivo marker. Fixation resulted in significant changes in protein and nucleic acid bands and the spatial distribution of organelles. Raman imaging of Metaphase I and II (MI, MII) and germinal vesicle stage oocytes showed changes in nuclear organisation and cytoplasm macromolecular architecture during these development and maturation stages related to changes in chromosome condensation, mitochondria aggregation and lipid droplet numbers.