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A new water–sediment separation structure with a herringbone separation grid has been developed for debris flow defense. Previous model experiments showed that, compared to existing structures, this structure can continuously maintain its water–sediment separation function. However, in the structure design, the length of the separation grid is key to its success in separating water and sediment. This paper presents a theoretical formula for calculating the design length of the grid. The theoretical formula shows that the grid length relates to the debris flow velocity v x, the grid width B, and the grid incline angle θ. A series of model experiments were conducted in the laboratory to test the accuracy of the formula. The results show that the experimental value and the theoretical value for grid length form a linear relationship and the design length of the grid may be corrected by a coefficient. Further analysis indicates that the correction coefficient changes with the bulk density of debris flow. Finally, a formula for determining the grid design length is derived from the theoretical formula, corrected using a coefficient related to the bulk density of a debris flow.

The microfiber knot-type ring resonator is widely used in sensing, and the resonant mode is an essential concern. In this paper, resonant mode characteristics of microfiber knot-type ring resonator are studied theoretically. Results show that resonant mode split occurs when the deviation angle is large enough under the condition that the input is linearly or elliptically polarized light. Moreover, in the case that the input is partially polarized light, the resonant peak positions of split modes are identical with those in the case of inputting linearly or elliptically polarized light under the same deviation angle. The split mode characteristic is further studied by salinity sensing simulation and experiment. The split modes have the same free spectral range, and their resonant peak shifts have the same response to salinity changing. The experimental split mode characteristic is in good agreement with theoretical simulating, which demonstrates the resonant mode split theory of the microfiber knot-type ring resonator. The analysis on resonant mode presented here may offer useful references for sensing applications.

The traditional mask method and background fitting method can not correct effectively the solar image with uneven illumination. We adopt a correct method based on Retinex for the solar image with uneven illumination. The quality of image is improved by compressing the range of brightness and increasing the contrast by separately processing the effect of illumination and reflectivity to the intensity value. It could reveal the detailed character of the shadow area of the image. By contrasting four evaluate indexes, including the mean intensity, the image entropy, the image contrast and the peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), this method is proved to be effective in the solar image with uneven illumination.

A debris flow forecast model based on a water-soil coupling mechanism that takes the debris-flow watershed as a basic forecast unit was established here for the prediction of disasters at the watershed scale. This was achieved through advances in our understanding of the formation mechanism of debris flow. To expand the applicable spatial scale of this forecasting model, a method of identifying potential debris flow watersheds was used to locate areas vulnerable to debris flow within a forecast region. Using these watersheds as forecasting units and a prediction method based on the water-soil coupling mechanism, a new forecasting method of debris flow at the regional scale was established. In order to test the prediction ability of this new forecasting method, the Sichuan province, China was selected as a study zone and the large-scale debris flow disasters attributable to heavy rainfall in this region on July 9, 2013 were taken as the study case. According to debris flow disaster data on July 9, 2013 which were provided by the geo-environmental monitoring station of Sichuan province, there were 252 watersheds in which debris flow events actually occurred. The current model predicted that 265 watersheds were likely to experience a debris flow event. Among these, 43 towns including 204 debris-flow watersheds were successfully forecasted and 24 towns including 48 watersheds failed. The false prediction rate and failure prediction rate of this forecast model were 23% and 19%, respectively. The results show that this method is more accurate and more applicable than traditional methods.

Ocean internal-wave phenomena occur with the variation in seawater vertical temperature, and most internal-wave detections are dependent on the measurement of seawater vertical temperature. A seawater temperature sensor based on a microfiber knot resonator (MKR) is designed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally in this paper. Especially, the dependences of sensing sensitivity on fiber diameter and probing wavelength are studied. Calculated results show that sensing sensitivity increases with the increasing microfiber diameter with the range of 2.30–3.91 μm and increases with the increasing probing wavelength, which reach good agreement with results obtained by experiments. By choosing the appropriate parameters, the maximum sensitivity measured can reach to be 22.81 pm/°C. The seawater temperature sensor demonstrated here shows advantages of small size, high sensitivity, easy fabrication, and easy integration with fiber systems, which may offer a new optical method to detect temperature of seawater or ocean internal-wave phenomenon and offer valuable reference for assembling micro sensors used for other parameters related to seawater, such as salinity, refractive index, concentration of NO3− and so on.

Debris flow forecast is an important means of disaster mitigation. However, the accuracy of the statistics-based debris flow forecast is unsatisfied while the mechanism-based forecast is unavailable at the watershed scale because most of existing researches on the initiation mechanism of debris flow took a single slope as the main object. In order to solve this problem, this paper developed a model of debris flow forecast based on the water-soil coupling mechanism at the watershed scale. In this model, the runoff and the instable soil caused by the rainfall in a watershed is estimated by the distributed hydrological model (GBHM) and an instable identification model of the unsaturated soil. Because the debris flow is a special fluid composed of soil and water and has a bigger density, the density estimated by the runoff and instable soil mass in a watershed under the action of a rainfall is employed as a key factor to identify the formation probability of debris flow in the forecast model. The Jiangjia Gulley, a typical debris flow valley with a several debris flow events each year, is selected as a case study watershed to test this forecast model of debris flow. According the observation data of Dongchuan Debris Flow Observation and Research Station, CAS located in Jiangjia Gulley, there were 4 debris flow events in 2006. The test results show that the accuracy of the model is satisfied.

The mean velocity estimation of debris flows, especially viscous debris flows, is an important part in the debris flow dynamics research and in the design of control structures. In this study, theoretical equations for computing debris flow velocity with the one-phase flow assumption were reviewed and used to analyze field data of viscous debris flows. Results show that the viscous debris flow is difficult to be classified as a Newtonian laminar flow, a Newtonian turbulent flow, a Bingham fluid, or a dilatant fluid in the strict sense. However, we can establish empirical formulas to compute its mean velocity following equations for Newtonian turbulent flows, because most viscous debris flows are turbulent. Factors that potentially influence debris flow velocity were chosen according to two-phase flow theories. Through correlation analysis and data fitting, two empirical formulas were proposed. In the first one, velocity is expressed as a function of clay content, flow depth and channel slope. In the second one, a coefficient representing the grain size nonuniformity is used instead of clay content. Both formulas can give reasonable estimate of the mean velocity of the viscous debris flow.

The determination of the critical particle size between solid and fluid phases, i.e., the suspension competence, is fundamental for debris flow. A method for determining suspension competence based on particle size analysis is presented in this paper. Suspension competence of static experimental water-debris mixtures prepared with the sediment of Jiangjia Gully is 0.025 mm if the bulk density is less than 1,800 kg m-3 and it increases with bulk density of more concentrated mixtures. Suspension competence of natural debris flows in Jiangjia Gully increases exponentially with the bulk density. These two data sets are compared in order to understand the suspension mechanism It is concluded that turbulence may play a leading role in particle suspension in non-viscous and sub-viscous debris flows, while in viscous debris flows both matrix strength and excess pore water pressure play important roles.

A seawater temperature sensing method based on polydimethylsiloxane-coated (PDMS-coated) microfiber knot resonator (MKR) is proposed, which has the advantages of high sensitivity and weak salinity dependence. The dependences of the temperature sensitivity on fiber diameter, coating thickness and probing wavelength are theoretically investigated and the range of coating thickness for weak salinity dependence is obtained. By optimizing the parameters of the seawater temperature sensing system, when the probing wavelength is 1550 nm, the fiber diameter is 1 μm, and the coating thickness is 5 μm, the sensitivity can reach to 0.197 nm/°C. Results shown here are beneficial to find the optimal parameters for the temperature sensors with high sensitivity and weak salinity dependence.

A series of tests were conducted to study the effect of the strip inclination angle on the friction and wear behavior of a contact strip rubbing against a contact wire with electric current using a ring-block-type test machine. The arc voltage and electric current were measured throughout the tests to evaluate the scaled accumulated arc energy. The variations of the wear rate of the carbon strip and the scaled accumulated arc energy with strip inclination angle were obtained. Experimental results show that the strip inclination angle has an effect on the friction and wear behavior of contact strip against contact wire with electric current, and an appropriate strip inclination angle can decrease wear of the contact strip.

Development of luminescence probes with polarized and narrow emissions simultaneously is helpful for removing multiply scattered light and enables multiplexing detection, but it remains challenging to use conventional organic dyes, fluorescence proteins, and quantum dots. Here, we demonstrated smart one-dimensional microlaser probes (MLPs) by coating a thin layer of silica shell on the surface of organic nanowires (ONWs) of 1,4-dimethoxy-2,5-di[4'-(methylthio)styryl]benzene (TDSB), namely, ONW@SiO

The glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) family kinases are central cellular regulators highly conserved in all eukaryotes. In Arabidopsis, the GSK3-like kinase BIN2 phosphorylates a range of proteins to control broad developmental processes, and BIN2 is degraded through unknown mechanism upon receptor kinase-mediated brassinosteroid (BR) signaling. Here we identify KIB1 as an F-box E3 ubiquitin ligase that promotes the degradation of BIN2 while blocking its substrate access. Loss-of-function mutations of KIB1 and its homologs abolished BR-induced BIN2 degradation and caused severe BR-insensitive phenotypes. KIB1 directly interacted with BIN2 in a BR-dependent manner and promoted BIN2 ubiquitination in vitro. Expression of an F-box-truncated KIB1 caused BIN2 accumulation but dephosphorylation of its substrate BZR1 and activation of BR responses, because KIB1 blocked BIN2 binding to BZR1. Our study demonstrates that KIB1 plays an essential role in BR signaling by inhibiting BIN2 through dual mechanisms of blocking substrate access and promoting degradation.

Single herringbone water-sediment separation structures (HWSS) have limited sediment control effectiveness in debris flows. A series of such structures in a debris flow channel to form a multiple structure system (M-HWSS system) should be more effective in debris flow mitigation. Hydraulic model tests reveal that a M-HWSS system does perform better in coarse sediment separation and has better stability in differing debris flow situations. The mean particle size of discharged sediment is gradually and significantly decreased down channel by M-HWSS system. The separated sediments are moderately sorted and this can be improved by optimizing the structure design parameters and increasing structure numbers. The fraction separation ratio (λi), coarse separation ratio (λc) and total sediment separation rate (Pt) are suggested parameters to express the sediment control effectiveness. All are closely related to the herringbone opening width and the input sediment grain size distribution. The quantitative relationships among them are proposed. On the basis of the tests, conclusions and guidelines for effective M-HWSS design include: (1) three structures in the M-HWSS located in succession upstream, midstream and downstream, each with substantially different in sediment control functions, (2) a structure's performance is strongly influenced by that of the preceding one so that every structure is designed to fully implement the sediment control function, especially for those in the upstream and midstream, (3)the suggested herringbone opening width in a structure should be set at the percentile of d50 ~ d84 of the input sediment grain size distribution so that 20 ~ 60 % of the effective separation rate can be achieved.

The rheological properties of most liquid in nature are between liquids and solids, including both elastic changes and viscosity changes, that is so-called “viscoelastic”. Dynamic oscillatory test was used to quantitatively study the distinct viscoelastic behaviors of debris flow slurry in the shear stress conditions for the first time in this study. The debris flow slurry samples were from Jiangjiagou Ravine, Yunnan Province, China. The experimental results were found that at the low and middle stages of shearing, when the angular velocity ω G′. At the late stage of shearing, when the angular velocity ω≧72.46 s−1, the storage modulus was greater than or equal to the loss modulus, i.e. G′ ≧G″, tan δ≦1 (where phase-shift angle δ=G″/G′), and the debris flow slurry was in a gel state. Therefore, the progress of this experimental study further reveals the mechanism of hyperconcentrated debris flows with a high velocity on low-gradient ravines.

Debris flow is a kind of geological hazard occurring in mountain areas. Its velocity is very important for debris flow dynamics research and designing debris flow control works. However, most of past researches focused on surface velocity and mean velocity of debris flow, while few researches involve its internal velocity because there is no available method for measuring the internal velocity for its destructive power. In this paper, a method of temporally correlated shear forces (TCSF) for measuring the internal velocity of debris flows is proposed. The principle of this method is to calculate the internal velocity of a debris flow using the distance between two detecting sections and the time difference between the two waveforms of shear forces measured at both sections. This measuring method has been tested in 14 lab-based flume experiments.

Photomorphogenesis is controlled by multiple signaling pathways, including the light and brassinosteroid (BR) pathways. BR signaling activates the BZR1 transcription factor, which is required for suppressing photomorphogenesis in the dark. We identified a suppressor of the BR hypersensitive mutant bzr1-1D and named it bzr1-1D suppressor1-Dominant (bzs1-D). The bzs1-D mutation was caused by overexpression of a B-box zinc finger protein BZS1, which is transcriptionally repressed by BZR1. Overexpression of BZS1 causes de-etiolation in the dark, short hypocotyls in the light, reduced sensitivity to BR treatment, and repression of many BR-activated genes. Knockdown of BZS1 by co-suppression partly suppressed the short hypocotyl phenotypes of BR-deficient or insensitive mutants. These results support that BZS1 is a negative regulator of BR response. BZS1 overexpressors are hypersensitive to different wavelengths of light and loss of function of BZS1 reduces plant sensitivity to light and partly suppresses the constitutive photomorphogenesis 1 (cop1) mutant in the dark, suggesting a positive role in light response. BZS1 protein accumulates at an increased level after light treatment of dark-grown BZS1-OX plants and in the cop1 mutants, and BZS1 interacts with COP1 in vitro, suggesting that light regulates BZS1 through COP1-mediated ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. These results demonstrate that BZS1 mediates the crosstalk between BR and light pathways.

In rice (Oryza sativa), brassinosteroids (BRs) induce cell elongation at the adaxial side of the lamina joint to promote leaf bending. We identified a rice mutant (ili1-D) showing an increased lamina inclination phenotype similar to that caused by BR treatment. The ili1-D mutant overexpresses an HLH protein homologous to Arabidopsis thaliana Paclobutrazol Resistance1 (PRE1) and the human Inhibitor of DNA binding proteins. Overexpression and RNA interference suppression of ILI1 increase and reduce, respectively, rice laminar inclination, confirming a positive role of ILI1 in leaf bending. ILI1 and PRE1 interact with basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein IBH1 (ILI1 binding bHLH), whose overexpression causes erect leaf in rice and dwarfism in Arabidopsis. Overexpression of ILI1 or PRE1 increases cell elongation and suppresses dwarf phenotypes caused by overexpression of IBH1 in Arabidopsis. Thus, ILI1 and PRE1 may inactivate inhibitory bHLH transcription factors through heterodimerization. BR increases the RNA levels of ILI1 and PRE1 but represses IBH1 through the transcription factor BZR1. The spatial and temporal expression patterns support roles of ILI1 in laminar joint bending and PRE1/At IBH1 in the transition from growth of young organs to growth arrest. These results demonstrate a conserved mechanism of BR regulation of plant development through a pair of antagonizing HLH/bHLH transcription factors that act downstream of BZR1 in Arabidopsis and rice.

The salinity and temperature of seawater are important parameters in oceanography. Based on the directional coupler assembled by polyimide-coated micro/nanofibers, optical sensors with high sensitivity for simultaneous salinity and temperature sensing in seawater are proposed. Dependences of sensitivities on wavelength, salinity, and temperature are investigated theoretically, with which performances of such sensor under general sea conditions can be evaluated. Results show that salinity and temperature sensitivities can reach levels of nm/‰ and nm/°C, which are much higher than those of fiber Bragg gratings, knot resonators, and photonic crystal fibers. Other considerations for system design such as the length of the coupling area, the diameter difference between two fibers, and the thickness of polyimide coatings are also discussed. Sensors proposed here suggest a simple approach to realize high-sensitivity micro/nanofiber optical sensing of salinity and temperature in seawater simultaneously and may find applications in developing miniature sensors used in seawater.

Proteins can adsorb on the surface of artificial joints immediately after being implanted. Although research studying protein adsorption on medical material surfaces has been carried out, the mechanism of the proteins’ adsorption which affects the corrosion behaviour of such materials still lacks in situ observation at the micro level. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on CoCrMo alloy surfaces was studied in situ by AFM and SKPFM as a function of pH and the charge of CoCrMo alloy surfaces. Results showed that when the specimens were uncharged, hydrophobic interaction could govern the process of the adsorption rather than electrostatic interaction and BSA molecules tended to adsorb on the surfaces forming a monolayer in the side-on model. Results also showed that adsorbed BSA molecules could promote the corrosion process for CoCrMo alloys. When the surface was positively charged, the electrostatic interaction played a leading role in the adsorption process. The maximum adsorption occurred at the isoelectric point (pH 4.7) of BSA.

A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the determination of chlorogenic acid (3-O-caffeoyl-D-quinic acid) in plasma and applied to its pharmacokinetic study in rabbits after administration of Flos Lonicerae extract. Plasma samples are extracted with methanol. HPLC analysis of the extracts is performed on a C(18) reversed-phase column using acetonitrile-0.2% phosphate buffer (11:89, v/v) as the mobile phase. The UV detector is set at 327 nm. The standard curves are linear in the range 0.0500-1.00 microg/mL (r = 0.9987). The mean extraction recovery of 85.1% is obtained for chlorogenic acid. The interday precision (relative standard deviation) ranges from 5.0% to 7.5%, and the intraday precision is better than 9.0%. The limit of quantitation is 0.0500 microg/mL. The plasma concentration of chlorogenic acid shows a C(max) of 0.839 +/- 0.35 microg/mL at 34.7 +/- 1.1 min and a second one of 0.367 +/- 0.16 microg/mL at 273.4 +/- 39.6 min.

Rationale:Endometrial cancer patients with lung metastases are rare, and more rarely with long-term management of progesterone after recurrence.Patient concerns:Informed consent of the patients and their families.Diagnoses:Endometrial cancer (IVB) (Refer to 2009 FIGO stag of endometrial canc

A seawater temperature sensing and detection method based on microfibre resonator (MR) by intensity-variation scheme is proposed, which has the advantages of high sensitivity and low detection limit. The dependences of sensitivity on probing wavelength, fibre diametre and ring diametre are studied. Results show that probing wavelength influences the sensitivity by the absorption loss predominantly. Larger absorption loss results in lower sensitivity, which is much different with resonant-wavelength-shift scheme. And sensitivity increases with the increasing ring diametre due to the decreasing bending loss and increasing Q-factor. In addition, there may exist an optimal fibre diametre, with which the sensitivity is maximized. By tuning the parameters of system, sensitivity can be tuned from 0.0784NI/oC to 13.79 NI/oC (NI is the abbreviation of normalized intensity). Correspondingly, dynamic range changes from 11.77oC to 0.08oC. Additionally, the dependences of detection limit on wavelength, fibre diametre, and ring diametre are also investigated, which are opposite to that of sensitivity. For different temperatures, the dependences of sensitivity and detection limit at some typical temperatures are studied, which shows that high sensitivity and low detection limit are related to high temperature, and the optimal fibre diametres for high sensitivity and low detection limit are the same at different temperatures. The lowest detection limit is estimated to be 10^ -7 oC level, which is four orders of magnitude smaller than that of the traditional method. Results shown here are beneficial to find the optimal parameters for the temperature sensors, and offer helpful references for assembling micro-photonics device used in seawater sensing and detection.

Point cloud data of complex product with small changes of surface has narrow data range, high spatial relativity and smooth data change. It is not sensitive to feature extraction and shape recognition. Point cloud data enhancement based on layer connected region is proposed. The two-dimensional matrix is calculated to describe point cloud data reflecting the product shape and spacial relationship. Point cloud data is divided into two layers. Local point cloud data is enhanced in the connected region of each layer. The point cloud data enhancement is evaluated by contrast enhancement index and equivalent number of looks. Example shows that point cloud data enhancement based on layer connected region can convert non uniform distribution point cloud data to uniform distribution point cloud data, improving the contrast of the point cloud data.

Point cloud data of complex product with small changes of surface has narrow data range, high spatial relativity and smooth data change. It is not sensitive to feature extraction and shape recognition. Homomorphic filter is introduced into point cloud data enhancement. Point cloud data reflecting the product shape and spacial relationship is divided into the low frequency part and the high frequency part. Spatial location change has little effect on the low frequency part. The high frequency part changes greatly with spatial location characteristics of the object itself. Homomorphic filter is designed to reduce the low frequency part and enhance high-frequency part. Point cloud data enhancement based on homomorphic filter is proposed. Example shows point cloud data enhancement based on homomorphic filter can convert non uniform distribution point cloud data to uniform distribution point cloud data, improving the contrast of point cloud data.

In this paper, we proposed a coherent detecting and mapping scheme for the relay node in two-way relay channels (TWRC) with binary frequency-shift keying (2FSK) modulated physical-layer network coding (PNC). The scheme use two branches to process the superimposed signal, sample and make decision to the difference of the output signal from the two branches, and then, map the decision result to network coded bits. We obtained the decision thresholds according to the maximum posterior probability decision rule, and analysed the decision error probability (DEP) of the relay node, the bit error rate (BER) of the whole system and the throughput performance. The analysis and numerical results show that, with this scheme, the DEP of relay node and the system's BER in PNC are close to traditional and network coding schemes, but the throughput of the proposed scheme is higher than these two schemes.

A new physical-layer network coding (PNC) scheme is proposed for asymmetric two-way relay channels (TWRC). In the scheme, the two source node employ orthogonal carriers and the relay node employ orthogonal combining, instead of XOR, which is used in most PNC schemes. Our proposed scheme is named as combined orthogonal physical-layer network coding (COPNC). COPNC can provide better BER performance than PNC and orthogonal PNC (OPNC) when the channel conditions in TWRC are asymmetric.

Under the low-carbon economy circumstance, highly competitive market force companies attempt to gain a competitive advantage and market share through keeping the whole supply chain low-carbon. This paper uses two factors based on the Shapley value method, the low-carbon contribution level and the level of effort, to investigate the programs of benefits distribution for low-carbon supply chain members. Its purpose is to ensure that the low-carbon supply chain members find a balance between the pay and benefits and to promote the reasonable and rapid development of low-carbon supply chains.

Network coding, which works in the network layer, is an effective technology to improve the throughput of two-way relay networks. In this paper, we compare the existing network coding schemes: traditional network coding (NC) scheme, physical-layer network coding (PNC) scheme and soft network coding (SNC) scheme, and propose a new physical layer scheme which can be seen as the implementation of network coding in two-way relay networks. Relay nodes combine the received signals from two source nodes before demodulation and channel decoding. The computational complexity and BER performance of the proposed scheme are analyzed compared with the previous schemes. Theoretical analysis show that the proposed scheme can save 50% computational cost of demodulation and channel decoding processes compared with NC scheme, meanwhile increase the power efficiency of the relay nodes in two-way relay networks significantly. Future works with the proposed scheme are also discussed.

In particle swarm optimization algorithm, computational efficiency is one key problem to affect the algorithm performance due to the dynamic balance between exploration and exploitation capabilities. In this paper, a new strategy, one group-decided position is regarded as the attraction center to provide more chances to search the local optimum. This group-decided position is estimated with all particles' fitness change ratios. Simulation results show it is effective and efficiency.

To improve the performance of LDPC codes, we should detect and eliminate cycles in Tanner graph of the parity-check matrix when we make LDPC codes. We improved a logic algebraic algorithm in computing entire routes between the nodes of a communication network, and found a new method of detecting cycles in Tanner graph of LDPC codes. This method applied the logic algebraic calculation rules. First transformed the parity-check matrix and then constructed the relative matrix of the Tanner graph. Through integrating and deleting rows of relative matrix and correcting some elements, this new algorithm can detect all the cycles in a Tanner graph of LDPC codes which code length is n and information bits number is k, just needing integrating and deleting n-1 times and correcting k times. The calculation steps of the algorithm is shown detailed by an (8, 4, 2) LDPC example and its correctness have been validated.

Surface feature extraction from point clouds is an important technology of 3D digital geometric signal understanding. The existing surface feature extraction methods have limit of precision while segmenting point clouds from complex surfaces with open contours, branching and blending features. A new practical method is presented for surface feature extraction based on similarity measures of sectional contour. The shape description of arc length and rotation angle is discussed. The similarity of feature is determined according to the normalized cross correlation coefficient of sectional contour feature point clouds. Branch, blend, dissimilarity and precise feature point are distinguished based on the similarity measures of sectional contour feature point. Surface feature is automatically extraction by feature points of point clouds. Experiments show that the proposed surface extraction method can accurately segment the complex surface with open contour, branching and blending feature. Complex surface is segmented into individual surfaces according to similarity measure rules, reflecting the original design intent.

As soon as artificial joint replacements are implanted into patients, the adsorption of proteins can occur. Joint implants operate in a protein-rich and relatively corrosive environment under tribological contact. The contacted area acted as an anodic part and the rest of the surface was more cathodic. Therefore, the adsorption of proteins is different in and outside the wear track. Adsorbed proteins would denature during rubbing and a tribofilm could form. The tribofilm can lubricate the surface and act as a barrier to corrosion damage. However, to observe the adsorption of proteins in situ has always been a challenge. Scanning Kelvin probe force microscope (SKPFM) was used to study the adsorption of albumin on the surface of CoCrMo alloy under simulated tribology movement. Fluorescence microscopy (FM) was employed to reveal the protein molecules in the wear scar. It was found that albumin molecules can decrease the surface potential and accelerate the corrosion process. In the wear track, albumin denatured and changed the surface potential as time progressed.

A microarray based on PCR amplicons of 1,864 confirmed and predicted Arabidopsis transcription factor genes was produced and used to profile the global expression pattern in seedlings, specifically their light regulation. We detected expression of 1,371 and 1,241 genes in white-light- and dark-grown 6-d-old seedlings, respectively. Together they account for 84% of the transcription factor genes examined. This array was further used to study the kinetics of transcription factor gene expression change of dark-grown seedlings in response to blue light and the role of specific photoreceptors in this blue-light regulation. The expression of about 20% of those transcription factor genes are responsive to blue-light exposure, with 249 and 115 genes up or down-regulated, respectively. A large portion of blue-light-responsive transcription factor genes exhibited very rapid expression changes in response to blue light, earlier than the bulk of blue-light-regulated genes. This result suggests the involvement of transcription cascades in blue-light control of genome expression. Comparative analysis of the expression profiles of wild type and various photoreceptor mutants demonstrated that during early seedling development cryptochromes are the major photoreceptors for blue-light control of transcription factor gene expression, whereas phytochrome A and phototropins play rather limited roles.

A seawater salinity sensor based on microring resonator with weak temperature dependence is proposed, which is coated by MgF 2 film with positive thermo-optic coefficient. Temperature dependences of the sensor on fiber diameter, probing wavelength and coating thickness are theoretically investigated and ranges of microfiber diameters for weak temperature dependence are obtained. Under the temperature insensitive condition, sensitivity and detection limit of salinity sensing are studied. By optimizing the parameters of the sensing system, salinity sensitivity and detection limit can reach 0.03 nm/‰ and 0.13‰, respectively. The model presented here may be helpful for developing weak temperature dependence sensors for salinity sensing with high sensitivity, low detection limit and miniaturized sizes.