Search

Abstract: A Bi(In1/3Mo2/3)O4 ceramic was prepared via the solid state reaction method. The pure monoclinic phase was formed at around 650°C. Ceramic samples with relative densities above 97% were obtained when sintering temperature was around 840°C. The best microwave dielectric properties were achieved in the Bi(In1/3Mo2/3)O4 ceramic sintered at 840°C for 2h with permittivity ∼25.2, Qf of 40,000GHz and temperature coefficient of resonance frequency ∼−65ppm/°C at 8.2GHz. The temperature dependence of microwave dielectric properties was also studied in a wide temperature range from −250°C to +120°C. The Qf value increased with the decrease of temperature and reached a maximum of 150,000GHz at −250°C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The polyoxometalate-based 1D coordination polymer [Cu(DMF)6][PMoVMoVI 11O40Cu(DMF)4]·DMF 1 was synthesized and characterized by IR, UV spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Each Cu(II) center has a distorted octahedral coordination geometry. Cu(1) center interconnects with two [PMoVMoVI 11O40]4− anion subunits and each [PMoVMoVI 11O40]4− polyoxoanion acts as a didentate ligand to link two Cu centers through two terminal oxygen atoms to form a one-dimensional chain structure. The luminescent properties of 1 in the solution and in the solid state were investigated, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Novel phosphors of Ce3+, Tb3+, Sm3+ or Gd3+ doped Ba3BP3O12 were synthesized by the solid-state reaction method and their VUV–UV spectroscopic properties were investigated. The bands at about 165nm in the VUV excitation spectra are attributed to the host lattice absorptions. The bands at about 216, 238, 269, 282, and 294nm for the sample of Ba3BP3O12: Ce3+ are connected with the f–d transitions of the Ce3+ ion, the strong band at 220nm and weak band at 260nm for the sample of Ba3BP3O12: Tb3+ are assumed to be the lowest spin-allowed and spin-forbidden f–d transitions of Tb3+ ion, the bands at about 187 and 166nm for the sample of Ba3BP3O12: Sm3+ have been considered as related to the charge transfer and the f–d transition of Sm3+, and the band at 146nm for the sample of Ba3BP3O12: Gd3+ is assumed to be connected with charge transfer of the Gd3+ ion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Microwave dielectric ceramics exhibiting a low dielectric constant ( ε r ), high quality factor ( Q × f ), and thermal stability, specifically in an ultrawide temperature range (from -40 to +120 °C), have attracted much attention. In addition, the development of 5G communication has caused an urgent demand for electronic devices, such as dielectric resonant antennas. Hence, the feasibility of optimizing the dielectric properties of the SmNbO 4 (SN) ceramics by substituting Bi 3+ ions at the A site was studied. The permittivity principally hinges on the contribution of Sm/Bi-O to phonon absorption in the microwave range, while the reduced sintering temperature results in a smaller grain size and slightly lower Q × f value. The expanded and distorted crystal cell indicates that Bi 3+ doping effectively regulates the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (TCF) by adjusting the strains (causing the distorted monoclinic structure) of monoclinic fergusonite besides correlating with the permittivity. Moreover, a larger A-site radius facilitates the acquisition of near-zero TCF values. Notably, the (Sm 0.875 Bi 0.125 )NbO 4 (SB 0.125 N) ceramic with ε r ≈ 21.9, Q × f ≈ 38 300 GHz (at ∼8.0 GHz), and two different near-zero TCF values of -9.0 (from -40 to +60 °C) and -6.6 ppm/°C (from +60 to +120 °C), respectively, were obtained in the microwave band. A simultaneous increase in the phase transition temperature ( T c ) and coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) by A-site substitution provides the possibility for promising thermal barrier coating (TBC) materials. Then, a cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (CDRA) with a resonance at 4.86 GHz and bandwidth of 870 MHz was fabricated by the SB 0.125 N specimen. The exceptional performance shows that the SB 0.125 N material is a possible candidate for the sub-6 GHz antenna owing to the advantages of low loss and stable temperature.

Long-term limb nerve injury often leads to mirror-image pain (MIP), an abnormal pain sensation in the limb contralateral to the injury. Although it is clear that MIP is mediated in part by central nociception processing, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a key brain region that receives relayed peripheral nociceptive information from the contralateral limb. In this study, we induced MIP in male mice, in which a unilateral chronic constrictive injury of the sciatic nerve (CCI) induced a decreased nociceptive threshold in both hind limbs and an increased number of c-Fos-expressing neurons in the ACC both contralateral and ipsilateral to the injured limb. Using viral-mediated projection mapping, we observed that a portion of ACC neurons formed monosynaptic connections with contralateral ACC neurons. Furthermore, the number of cross-callosal projection ACC neurons that exhibited c-Fos signal was increased in MIP-expressing mice, suggesting enhanced transmission between ACC neurons of the two hemispheres. Moreover, selective inhibition of the cross-callosal projection ACC neurons contralateral to the injured limb normalized the nociceptive sensation of the uninjured limb without affecting the increased nociceptive sensation of the injured limb in CCI mice. In contrast, inhibition of the non-cross-callosal projection ACC neurons contralateral to the injury normalized the nociceptive sensation of the injured limb without affecting the MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb. These results reveal a circuit mechanism, namely, the cross-callosal projection of ACC between two hemispheres, that contributes to MIP and possibly other forms of contralateral migration of pain sensation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Mirror-image pain (MIP) refers to the increased pain sensitivity of the contralateral body part in patients with chronic pain. This pathology requires central processing, yet the mechanisms are less known. Here, we demonstrate that the cross-callosal projection neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) contralateral to the injury contribute to MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb, but do not affect nociceptive sensation of the injured limb. In contrast, the non-cross-callosal projection neurons in the ACC contralateral to the injury contribute to nociceptive sensation of the injured limb, but do not affect MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb. Our study depicts a novel cross-callosal projection of ACC that contributes to MIP, providing a central mechanism for MIP in chronic pain state., (Copyright © 2021 the authors.)

Structure and dielectric properties of gillespite-type ceramics ACuSi 4 O 10 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba) were investigated by crystal structure refinement, far-infrared reflectivity spectroscopy, and microwave dielectric measurements. A series of (Ca x Sr 1- x )CuSi 4 O 10 (0 < x < 1) ceramics with relative permittivities of 5.70-5.82, Q × f values of 20391-48794 GHz (@ ∼ 13.5 GHz), and τ f of -46.3 to -38.9 ppm/°C were synthesized. By Ca 2+ substitution for Sr 2+ at the A-site, the rigid double-layered copper silicate framework remains stable, resulting in the nearly unchanged relative permittivity, while the [(Ca,Sr)O 8 ] dodecahedron undergoes shrinkage and distortion, which is correlated to the changes in the Q × f and τ f values. The normalized bond valence sums indicate that almost all ions are rattling, weakening the bond strengths and enlarging the molecular dielectric polarizability. The fitting of far-infrared reflectivity spectra reveals that the local structure changes suppress the intermediate and low-frequency vibrational modes significantly and improves the contribution from electronic polarization to permittivity. Symmetry breaking of the [(Ca,Sr)O 8 ] dodecahedron conforms to the elevated restoring forces acting on the ions and improves the τ f value. The large span in Q × f value may have intricate correlations to local structure changes and defects. Machine learning methods were introduced to explore the decisive structural factors for the Q × f value. A Q × f value prediction model correlated with the A-O2 bond length and the variance of A-O bond lengths was established. The Q × f values of isostructural (Ba y Sr 1- y )CuSi 4 O 10 ceramics were predicted and verified by experiments.

A rapid start of the completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) process based on granular sludge and efficient nitrogen removal under mixotrophic conditions are important steps in a continuous flow reactor for CANON engineering applications. In this study, an aged CANON granular sludge was mechanically crushed to 0.3 mm as inoculum in an airlift internal-loop reactor (AIR) to achieve simultaneous COD removal and mixotrophic denitrification of the single-stage granular sludge. The system achieved stable partial nitrification by controlling DO after 26 days of startup. Granulation and anaerobic ammonia oxidation were then promoted by shortening the HRT to increase the ammonia nitrogen load to 5.65 kg ·(m 3 ·d) -1 . The total nitrogen removal rate reached 58% on the 68 th day. Subsequently, the C/N ratio of influent was increased from 0 to 0.25 and 0.5, which promoted the synergistic growth of AOB, AMX, and heterotrophic microorganisms. The removal rates of ammonia and total nitrogen were 95% and 85% respectively, and the removal of COD reached approximately 80%. The activity of NOB such as Nitrospira was effectively inhibited as the COD concentration was increased. q (NH 4 + -N) and q (TN) were stable at 0.4 g ·(g ·h) -1 and 0.34 g ·(g ·h) -1 , respectively, while q (NO 3 - -N) was approximately 0.02 g ·(g ·h) -1 . Microbial diversity was observed using MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. It showed that organic carbon had no significant effect on the abundance of Nitrosomomas and Candidutus&#95;Kuenenia, while increasing the abundance of Candidutus&#95;Brocadia and Denitratisoma in the sludge. This study provides ideas for the rapid start of continuous flow CANON granular sludge process to treat wastewater with low C/N ratio.

Background: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is commonest clinical disorder in which peripheral cholinergic activity is important. Oleuropein (OLP) is polyphenol is present in olive oil. Here we evaluated the effect of OLP in cognitive dysfunction rats in post cerebral stroke model., Methods: The post cerebral stroke cognitive dysfunction PSD rat model was created by occlusion of transient middle cerebral artery. The rats were divided into 6 groups named, Sham + Vehicle, Sham + OLP (50 mg/kg), PSD rats + Vehicle, PSD rats + OLP (20, 50 or 100 mg/kg). The spatial learning was assessed by Morris water maze (MWM). The expression of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), acetylcholine (ACH), extent of histone acetylation and phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) were evaluated by Western blot assay and immunofluorescence staining., Results: Treatment of OLP at various doses showed higher number of spontaneous and rewarded alterations and lesser percentage bias compared to vehicle treated PSD rats. OLP resulted in decreased levels of ChAT and ACH, whereas the degree of histone acetylation and phosphorylation of CREB improved in dose dependent pattern., Conclusion: treatment of OLP improved PSCI via increasing the phosphorylation of CREB and histone acetylation, thus attenuating cholinergic activity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2020.)

Cold damage has negatively impacted the yield, growth and quality of the edible cooking oil in Northern China and Brassica napus L.(rapeseed) planting areas decreased because of cold damage. In the present study we analyzed two Brassica napus cultivars of 16NTS309 (highly resistant to cold damage) and Tianyou2238 (cold sensitive) from Gansu Province, China using physiological, biochemical and cytological methods to investigate the plant's response to cold stress. The results showed that cold stress caused seedling dehydration, and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), relative electrolyte leakage and O 2 - and H 2 O 2 were increased in Tianyou2238 than 16NTS309 under cold stress at 4°C for 48 h, as well as the proline, soluble protein and soluble sugars markedly accumulated, and antioxidant enzymes of peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) were higher in 16NTS309 compared with in Tianyou2238, which play key roles in prevention of cell damage. After exposure to cold stress, the accumulation of the blue formazan precipitate and reddish brown precipitate indicated that O 2 - and H 2 O 2 , respectively, were produced in the root, stem, and leaf were higher than under non-cold conditions. Contents of O 2 - and H 2 O 2 in cultivar Tianyou2238 were higher than 16NTS309, this is consistent with the phenotypic result. To understand the specific distribution of O 2 - in the sub-cellular, we found that in both cultivars O 2 - signals were distributed mainly in cambium tissue, meristematic cells, mesophyll cytoplasm, and surrounding the cell walls of root, stem, leaves, and leaf vein by morphoanatomical analysis, but the quantities varied. Cold stress also triggered obvious ultrastructural alterations in leaf mesophyll of Tianyou2238 including the damage of membrane system, destruction of chloroplast and swelling of mitochondria. This study are useful to provide new insights about the physiological and biochemical mechanisms and cytology associated with the response of B. napus to cold stress for use in breeding cold-resistant varieties., (Copyright © 2020 Qi, Wang, Ma, Qi, Liu, Chen, Wu, Wang, Yang, Wu and Sun.)

The effects of different hydraulic retention time (HRT) on short-cut nitrification granular sludge were studied in a continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) by maintaining stable influent ammonia nitrogen load. Particle size distribution, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and functional bacterial kinetics were analyzed. The morphology of granular sludge, the performance of the CSTR, and the activity of functional microorganisms were investigated. The high throughout sequencing technology of MiSeq was employed to analyze the structure of the microbial community in sludge. The results showed that the ammonia nitrogen removal rate in the reactor was gradually increased from 80% to 95%, and the nitrite accumulation rate was always over 85% when the HRT was decreased from 4 h to 1 h. Particle size distribution of granular sludge was greatly influenced by HRT. The mass fraction of granules with a diameter smaller than 0.3 mm and larger than 1.6 mm was gradually declined, whereas the mass fraction of granules with a diameter between 0.3 mm and 0.8 mm was increased when HRT was shortened from 4 h to 1 h. The dominating proportion of granules with a diameter between 0.3 mm and 0.8 mm reached about 50% when HRT was 1 h. The impact of HRT on the activity of functional microorganisms was studied, and HRT activity was found to be closely related to the size of granular sludge. Proteobacteria were dominant in the system. AOB enrichment was represented by Nitrosomonas , which was more than 56%. Shortening HRT is beneficial for the enrichment of AOB.

In order to apply partial nitritation-ANAMMOX (PN/A) technology to treat wastewater with high concentrations of ammonia, autotrophic nitrogen-removing granular sludge was crushed and inoculated into a three-stage continuous flow reactor. The nitrogen loading rate (NLR), dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, and free ammonia (FA) levels in each compartment of the reactor were controlled over a 106-day period. Results showed that the nitritation process occurred with the inoculated granules during the initial phase. A limited aeration strategy was employed in the reactor at relatively high NLRs. Given the effective suppression of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and the prevention of ANAMMOX bacteria from high DO conditions, the compact structure and nitrogen-removal activity of the granules could be improved. When the ammonia-nitrogen concentration was increased in the influent to 350 mg·L -1 , the adverse impacts of high FA concentrations on the functional microbe activity in the first compartment should be eliminated. This occurs by reducing the influent pH and alkalinity dosage. This occurs by reducing the influent pH and degree of alkalinity. As a result, a total nitrogen removal rate of 7.2 kg·(m 3 ·d) -1 was achieved in the reactor, which is 50 to 100 times higher than that of conventional activated sludge systems. The consistent improvement in the nitrogen-removal activity of the granules was demonstrated by batch testing at different aeration intensities. This showed that activity was greatest in the first compartment, which showed the highest granular maturity. In addition, a clear linear correlation ( R 2 >0.97) was observed between the amount of extracellular polymeric substance and the specific nitrogen removal rate. This indicated that the dense granules played a positive role in enhancing the performance of the reactor.

To improve the capacity for phosphorus removal and to reduce the cost of treatment, alum sludge from a water supply plant was obtained to prepare modified zeolite coated with layered double hydroxide (LDHs), which was synthesized using an acidified extraction liquid. The surface characteristics and chemical composition of raw zeolites, Al-Zn modified zeolites, and alum sludge modified zeolites were determined, and the isothermal adsorption and adsorption kinetics were analyzed. The performance and mechanism of phosphorus removal by the alum sludge modified zeolites were evaluated. The results showed that the optimum conditions for acidification extraction were 60 min treatment time, 150 r·min -1 , and pH 1.0, which achieved 77 mg aluminum extraction rate per gram of alum sludge. Compared to raw zeolites, the maximum saturated adsorption capacity and the desorption performance of the zeolites were significantly increased by this modification. In addition, the theoretical maximum adsorption capacity of alum sludge modified zeolites was increased from 30.24 mg·kg -1 to 170.40 mg·kg -1 . The modification changed the main mode of phosphate adsorption by zeolite from physical adsorption to chemical adsorption. Alum sludge modification could improve the efficiency of phosphate adsorption and the regeneration capacity of zeolite, which could reduce the risk of water eutrophication caused by high phosphate concentrations, and could achieve the purpose of waste control by waste.

The start-up and stable operation of single-stage autotrophic nitrogen removal process under low ammonia nitrogen substrate at room temperature appears as the premise and basis for the application in municipal wastewater treatment. In this study, the PN/A (partial nitritation and ANAMMOX) granular sludge for long-term storage was inoculated into an air-lift bioreactor to investigate the nitrogen removal performance during the start-up of single-stage partial nitritation and ANAMMOX process under the following conditions:temperature at (23±2)℃, pH at 7.7-8.0. Synthetic wastewater with ammonia nitrogen concentration of 70 mg·L -1 was used as influent. By stepwise shortening hydraulic retention time (HRT) (1.1 h→0.9 h→0.7 h→0.5 h) and increasing ammonia nitrogen loading rate[1.53 kg·(m 3 ·d) -1 →1.87 kg·(m 3 ·d) -1 →2.40 kg·(m 3 ·d) -1 →3.36 kg·(m 3 ·d) -1 ], the bioactivity as the synergy between the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anaerobic oxidizing bacteria (AMX) were gradually restored. After 95 d operation and regulation, the process was successfully established and the removal rate of NH 4 + -N and TN were 85% and 69%, respectively. According to the performance of sludge at each stage, the nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were selectively inhibited by controlling dissolved oxygen strictly. The average particle size gradually increased and finally was reached to 1.30 mm after the sludge was adapted to the environment. The profile of the mature autotrophic granular sludge was smooth and clear, SEM showed that the center of granular sludge formed a cavity with porous structure on the surface, the sludge morphology consisted mainly of cocci, with a small amount of bacilli and short bacilli. The major component of EPS in granular sludge was protein (81.48%) indicating that it had a good settling performance.

Ba 1+ x MoO 4 (-0.03 ≤ x ≤ 0.03) ceramics were fabricated by a conventional two-step sintering technique. X-ray diffraction patterns show that there appeared new diffraction peaks when x > 0, which were identified as Ba 2 MoO 5 . The Rietveld refinement results indicate that the unit cell volume is the largest at x = -0.02, because it has the lowest packing fraction and covalency. The far-infrared reflectivity (IR) spectra were fitted and analyzed for calculating the intrinsic properties, which comply well with the data obtained from microscopic polarizabilities and damping coefficient angle. The proportion of each mode in the dielectric response demonstrates that the Ba-O 8 polyhedra have a decisive role on the dielectric properties. And based on the Raman modes, the internal relations of the structural-properties were revealed with the changes of Ba 2+ content.

Pr(Mg 1/2 Sn 1/2 )O 3 (PMS) ceramic was prepared through a conventional solid-state reaction method. Crystal structure was investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD), which certificates that the main phase is PMS with monoclinic P2 1 /n1 symmetry. Lattice vibrational modes were obtained through Raman scattering spectroscopy and Fourier transform far-infrared reflection spectroscopy. The Raman spectrum active modes were assigned and illustrated, respectively, and then fitted with Lorentzian function. The four modes within the range of 110-200 cm -1 are derived from the F 2g vibrations (A-site cations), and the other three modes (300-430 cm -1 ) are derived from the F 2g vibrations (B-site cations).The mode with highest frequency above 650 cm -1 is attributed to A 1g -like mode that corresponds to the symmetric breathing of oxygen octahedral. The far-infrared spectrum with seven infrared active modes was fitted using four-parameter semi-quantum models to calculate intrinsic properties (permittivity and loss). F 2u (2) yielded the greatest contribution to dielectric constant and loss, which is mainly performed as the inverted translational vibration of Pr-MgO 6 octahedron.

In the present work, a series of low-temperature firing scheelite structured microwave dielectric in water-insoluble La 2 O 3 -Nb 2 O 5 -V 2 O 5 system was prepared via the traditional solid-state reaction method. Backscattering electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive analysis, and Rietveld refinements were performed to study the phase evolution and crystal structure. In the full composition range of (1 - x)LaNbO 4 -xLaVO 4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.9) ceramics, at least four typical phase regions including monoclinic fergusonite, tetragonal sheelite, B-site ordered sheelite, and composite of monoclinic LaVO 4 and tetragonal sheelite phases can be detected according to XRD analysis. The variations of relative dielectric constant ε r , quality factor Q × f, and resonant frequency τ f could be attributed to Nb/V-O bond ionicity, lattice energy, and the coefficient of thermal expansion. Infrared reflectivity spectra analysis revealed that ion polarization contributed mainly to the permittivity in microwave frequencies ranges. Furthermore, the 0.7LaNbO 4 -0.3LaVO 4 ceramic sintered at 1160 °C possessed excellent microwave dielectric properties with an ε r of ∼17.78, a Q × f of ∼75 940 GHz, and a τ f of ca. -36.8 ppm/°C. This series of materials might be good candidate for microwave devices.

As an important online information retaining and processing function, working memory plays critical roles in many other cognitive functions. Several long-term factors, such as age, addiction and diseases, have been affirmed to impair working memory, but whether or how the short-term factors, like painful stimuli or emotions, regulate the human working memory ability is not well explored. Here we investigated the influences of empathic pain on upcoming working memory and existing working memory, by presenting human subjects with the pictures depicting painful or neutral scene. After separating the subjects into two groups, the more empathic group and relatively indifferent group, according to a well-accepted questionnaire (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)), the modulatory effect emerged. Empathic pain might exerted either a facilitating effect or an impairing effect, which was closely correlated with the personal empathy skills. Meanwhile, different aspects of subjects' empathy traits exerted distinct effects, and female subjects were more vulnerable than male subjects. Present study reveals a new modulatory manner of the working memory, via empathy skill-dependent painful experience.

In this work, the (Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 )(Mo 1-x W x )O 4 (x = 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0) ceramics were prepared via solid state reaction method. All the samples can be well densified at sintering temperature about ~720 °C. Dense and homogeneous microstructure with grain size lying between 2~8 μm can be observed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Microwave dielectric permittivity of the (Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 )(Mo 0.5 W 0.5 )O 4 ceramic was found to be temperature-independent in a wide range between 25~120 °C with a temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) ~-6 ppm/°C, a permittivity ~28.9, and Qf values 12,000~14,000 GHz. Crystal structure was refined using Rietveld method and lattice parameters are a = b = 5.281 (5) Å and c = 11.550 (6) Å with a space group I 4 1 /a (88). The (Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 )(Mo 1-x W x )O 4 ceramics might be good candidate for low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology.

A series of (Bi 1- x Y x )VO 4 (0.4 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) ceramics were synthesized using the traditional solid-state reaction method. In the composition range of 0.4 ≤ x ≤ 1.0, a zircon-type solid solution was formed between 900 and 1550 °C. Combined with our previous work (scheelite monoclinic and zircon-type phases coexist in the range of x < 0.40), a pseudobinary phase diagram of BiVO 4 -YVO 4 is presented. As x decreased from 1.0 to 0.40, the microwave permittivity (ε r ) of (Bi 1- x Y x )VO 4 ceramics increased linearly from 11.03 to 30.9, coincident with an increase in the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (TCF) from -61.3 to +103 ppm/°C. Excellent microwave dielectric properties were obtained for (Bi 0.3 Y 0.7 )VO 4 sintered at 1025 °C and (Bi 0.2 Y 0.8 )VO 4 sintered at 1075 °C with ε r ∼ 19.35, microwave quality factor (Qf) ∼ 25 760 GHz, and TCF ∼ +17.8 ppm/°C and ε r ∼ 16.3, Qf ∼ 31 100 GHz, and TCF ∼ -11.9 ppm/°C, respectively. Raman spectra, Shannon's additive rule, a classical oscillator model, and far-infrared spectra were employed to study the structure-property relations in detail. All evidence supported the premise that Bi-based vibrations dominate the dielectric permittivity in the microwave region., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

An experiment was carried out to study the effects of different rates of calcium application on peanut growth, physiological characteristics, yield and quality under drought stress at pegging stage and pod setting stage in pool cultivation with rainproof, using variety 606 as experimental material. The results showed that applying Ca fertilizer under drought stress could promote peanut growth, increase the chlorophyll content, leaf photosynthetic rate and the root vitality, increase the recovery ability of peanut during rewatering after drought stress, alleviate the impact of drought stress on peanut. Applying Ca fertilizer under drought stress increased pod and kernel yields because of the increase of kernel rate and pod number per plant. It also increased the fat and protein contents of peanut kernel, and improved peanut kernel quality under drought stress. It was suggested that 300 kg · hm(-2) Ca application is the best choice to alleviate the impact of drought stress on peanut.

In the present work, a full range of compositions of xBi(2/3)MoO4-(1 -x)BiVO4 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) was prepared by the solid state reaction method. All the ceramic compositions could be readily densified to below 850 °C. As the x value increased, the monoclinic scheelite structure continuously changed to a tetragonal structure at x = 0.10, which means the ferroelastic phase transition temperature was lowered to near room temperature. In the compositional range 0.50 ≤ x < 0.70, a novel ordered scheelite phase was formed, most likely through A-site vacancy ordering. For compositions x ≥ 0.70, a composite two-phase region consisting of the ordered scheelite and Bi(2/3)MoO4 phases was formed. High microwave permittivity around 75 and Qf values around 8000 GHz could be obtained in the compositions near the phase boundaries between monoclinic and tetragonal scheelite phases. The intrinsic microwave dielectric properties were extrapolated from the far infrared reflectivity spectra, and it was found that the polarization was dominated by the Bi-O stretches when x ≤ 0.10.

SH-SY5Y cell line treated with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) is a classical Parkinson's disease (PD). In the present study, synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy was used to analyze the biochemical composition of SH-SY5Y cell line treated with 6-OHDA. The detailed spectral analyses show the significant changes in cellular compositions such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids in SH-SY5Y cells treated with 6-OHDA compared to control SH-SY5Y cells. As a result, the unsaturation levels of phospholipids decrease in SH-SY5Y cells treated with 6-OHDA compared to control cells, the analysis of protein secondary structure shows the significantly higher ratio of beta-sheet in PD cells compared to that of control cells, and the content of nuclear acid is highly decreased compared to that of control cells, suggesting that 6-OHDA induces the serious oxidative damage in SH-SY5Y cells. These findings suggest that SR-FTIR is an effective and precise technical tool to probe the biochemical changes of cells and then evaluate the pathological damage in cells.

In this work, temperature stable microwave dielectric materials (1 - x)AMoO(4)-xTiO(2) (A = Ca, Sr) were prepared by a solid state reaction method. The phase composition, sintering behaviors, microstructures, microwave dielectric properties, effective permittivity and vibrational phonon modes were investigated. The X-ray diffraction pattern and scanning electron microscope analysis indicated that the AMoO(4) (A = Ca, Sr) phase could coexist with the TiO(2) phase. The effective dielectric constants of the AMoO(4)-TiO(2) composites were calculated by the finite element method (FEM), compared with the measured values and the numerical results obtained by the classical mixing rules. The correlation between the dielectric properties and the crystal structures were studied using IR and Raman spectroscopy. The infrared spectra were analyzed using the classical harmonic oscillator model, and revealed that the external vibration modes of AMoO(4) (A = Ca, Sr) had the most significant influence on the dielectric constant. The Raman spectra showed that there were strong interactions in the [MoO(4)] tetrahedron due to the sharp and intense Raman modes. Finally, the low-firing (900 °C) microwave dielectric ceramics were obtained with 3 wt% H(3)BO(3)-CuO addition (BCu), and they possess good microwave dielectric properties with ε(r) = 10.6-13, high Q×f values (40 700-72 050 GHz), and near-zero temperature coefficients of resonant frequency (TCF or τ(f) values). These results also show that (1 - x)AMoO(4)-xTiO(2)-BCu (A = Ca, Sr) ceramics are good candidates for microwave electronic device applications.

Synchrotron radiation based-Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (SR-FTIR) was used to preliminarily investigate the biochemical composition of the hippocampal neurons for 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats and normal rats. Spectral analysis showed that in PD samples, the CH2 asymmetric and symmetric vibrational absorption of integral area at 2 924 and 2 850 cm(-1) and the intensity of C=O vibrational absorption at 1 736 cm(-1) (assigned to the lipid functional group) increase compared to normal samples, which indicate that lipid content increased in PD sample; the PO2 asymmetric and symmetric vibrational absorption decrease compared to normal samples (assigned to the nucleic acid functional group; However no clear difference of the vibrational fingerprinting of protein between PD and normal samples was noticed. The present results suggest that the changes in biochemical composition in hippocampal neurons in PD rats probed by synchrotron radiation based-FTIR may contribute to the elucidation of PD pathology.

A two-year study on the effects of three densities (D1, 80 +/- 5 stems x m(-2); D2, 140 +/- 8 stems x m(-2); and D3, 220 +/- 11 stems x m(-2)) of Fargesia denudate in a F. denudata--Picea purpurea natural forest on the F. denudate litterfall production, nutrient return, and nutrient use efficiency showed that at the densities of D1, D2 and D3, the annual litterfall production was 793.2, 1135.7 and 1458.5 kg x hm(-2), carbon return was 370.7, 516.2 and 671.5 kg x hm(-2), and the total return of N, P, K, Ca and Mg was 16.3, 22.9 and 29.3 kg x hm(-2), respectively. Ca had the highest return (45%-48% of the total), followed by N (24%-29%), and the lowest were P and Mg (3%-5%), with the sequence of Ca > N > K > Mg and P. The peaks of litterfall production and nutrients return at the three densities were appeared in October (by the end of F. denudate growth season), and another peak at D3 was observed in August. There were no significant differences in the re-allocation of N and K in F. denudate leaves at the three densities, but the P re-allocation and the Ca and Mg accumulation increased with increasing density. The litterfall P use efficiency was the highest and increased with increasing density, implying that P could be a limiting factor for the growth and regeneration of F. denudate.