In Situ Raman Spectrum Peak Test of Monocrystalline Silicon Wafer under Quantitative Uniaxial Pressure.

The relationship between total uniaxial stress (F/N) and strain (ε/µm/m) of wolfram carbide (WC) base in diamond anvil cell was measured: F=3.395ε+12.212 (R2=0.999 9), and a device was developed which can be used to test the spectral characteristics of the sample in situ under quantitative uniaxial pressure. The Raman spectrum peak of monocrystalline silicon wafer was tested by using this device under a uniaxial pressure up to 2 548.664 MPa. The test result shows that, when the pressure is perpendicular to [100] crystal plane of the monocrystalline silicon sample, the 519.12 cm-1 peak shifts towards high frequency linearly with increasing pressure, and the linear relationship between shift amount of Raman spectrum peak frequency (Δω/cm-1) and pressure (σ/MPa) is: σ=365.80Δω+10.19, wherein the constant may reflect the presence of residual stress in the sample to some extent, and some difference between monomial coefficient and the result of theoretical calculations may be due to sample stress orientation in this experiment.The constant in the Δω-σ linear relationship reflects experimental errors and the value of residual inner stress to some extent.

[Characteristics of Raman spectra of minerals in the veins of Wenchuan earthquake fault zone].

Quartz in the veins at the Shenxigou section of Wenchuan earthquake fault zone was investigated by micro-Raman spectroscopic measurement, and the distribution of compressive stress in the fault zone was estimated by the frequency shifts of the 464 cm-1 vibrational mode of quartz grains in the veins. It was showed that the 464 cm-1 peak arising from the quartz grains in the veins near the fault plane shifts by 3. 29 cm-1 , and the corresponding compressive stress is 368. 63 MPa, which is significantly lower than the stress accumulation on both sides due to multi-stage events. Stress accumulation increased with moving away from the fault plane in the footwall with the offset of the 464 cm-1 peak arising from the quartz grains in the veins increasing, which can reach 494. 77 MPa at a distance of 21 m with a high offset of 4. 40 cm-1 of the 464 cm-1 peak. The compressive stress gets the maximum value of 519.87 MPa at a distance of 10 m from the fault plane in the hanging wall with the offset of the 464 cm-1 peak arising from the quartz grains in the veins being 4. 62 cm-1, followed by a sudden drop in stress accumulation, and it drops to 359. 59 MPa at a distance of 17 m. Because of moving away from the foult plane at the edge of the foult zone, the stress drops to 359. 59 MPa with a small value of 464 cm-1 peak offset 3. 21 cm-1 at a distance of 27 m from the fault plane in the hanging wall due to the little effect by the fault activity. Therefore, the stress of Wenchuan earthquake fault zone is partially released, but the rest of the stress distribution is uneven, and there is also a high stress accumulation in somewhere in the fault zone, which reflects that the mechanical properties of the rocks in the fault zone have a characteristic of unevenness in space.

[Variation of Raman spectra of oligoclase under 1.0-4.4 GPa].

Variation of crystal structure of oligoclase with pressure was investigated by the approach of diamond anvil cell (DAC) and in situ micro-Raman spectroscopic measurement at room temperature and under pressures from 1.0 to 4.4 GPa. At 2.9 GPa a new peak round 517 cm(-1) appeared, and a new phase was produced. Near 3.4 GPa a major discontinuity occurs in the pressure dependence of 288 cm(-1) peak arising from the stretching mode of M-O, and 517 cm(-1) peak disappeared, it implied that the oligoclase underwent triclinic to monoclinic phase transition completely at about 3.4 GPa. The peaks at 458 and 516 cm(-1) peaks arising from flexural vibrational mode of Si-O-Si shifted linearly with the increasing pressures, the pressure-related slopes are 1.667 cm(-1)/GPa and 3.560 cm(-1)/GPa, respectively, whereas, the flexural vibrational mode of Al-O-Al at 480 cm(-1) did not shifted linearly with the increasing pressures. The position of 288 cm(-1) peak did not change obviously in comparision with 458, 516 and 480 cm(-1) peaks, which shifted to lower frequency during decompression. The phase transition pressure of feldspar relates to the species of cation in the octatomic rings.

Free energy calculations on the two drug binding sites in the M2 proton channel.

Two alternative binding sites of adamantane-type drugs in the influenza A M2 channel have been suggested, one with the drug binding inside the channel pore and the other with four drug molecule S-binding to the C-terminal surface of the transmembrane domain. Recent computational and experimental studies have suggested that the pore binding site is more energetically favorable but the external surface binding site may also exist. Nonetheless, which drug binding site leads to channel inhibition in vivo and how drug-resistant mutations affect these sites are not completely understood. We applied molecular dynamics simulations and potential of mean force calculations to examine the structures and the free energies associated with these putative drug binding sites in an M2-lipid bilayer system. We found that, at biological pH (~7.4), the pore binding site is more thermodynamically favorable than the surface binding site by ~7 kcal/mol and, hence, would lead to more stable drug binding and channel inhibition. This result is in excellent agreement with several recent studies. More importantly, a novel finding of ours is that binding to the channel pore requires overcoming a much higher energy barrier of ~10 kcal/mol than binding to the C-terminal channel surface, indicating that the latter site is more kinetically favorable. Our study is the first computational work that provides both kinetic and thermodynamic energy information on these drug binding sites. Our results provide a theoretical framework to interpret and reconcile existing and often conflicting results regarding these two binding sites, thus helping to expand our understanding of M2-drug binding, and may help guide the design and screening of novel drugs to combat the virus.

[Characteristics of Raman spectra of natural clinochlore at 200 degrees C and 0.95-7.70 GPa].

Variation of crystal structure of natural clinochlore with pressure was investigated by the approach of diamond anvil cell (DAC) and in situ micro-Raman spectroscopic measurement at 200 degrees C and up to 7.7 GPa. The 481 and 786 cm(-1) peaks shift towards high-frequency linearly with increasing pressure at 200 degrees C. The linear relations between Raman shift (N, cm(-1)) and pressure (P, GPa) for the two peaks are: N = 11.136P+482.6 (R2 = 0.987 4) and N = 5.055P+785.7 (R2 = 0.983 7), respectively. The 865 cm(-1) peak arising from the stretching mode of the Si-O(nb) shifts slightly because of the strong repulsion between T cations at the tetrahedral sites and M cations at the octahedral sites in the TOT layer. Raman shift of 481 cm(-1) and 786 means the shortening of the length of M-O(br) and Si-CO(br) bonds since the peaks are contributed by the stretching mode of the M-O(br) and Si-O(br) respectively. No phase transition of clinochlore under the experimental condition was found. The results indicate that chlorite minerals may be stable at least at a depth of 80-90 km in the cold subduction zones, and the fluid derived from chlorite dehydration may be an important fact for earthquake occurrence in the subduction zones.

[Geochemical characteristics of radon and mercury in soil gas in Lhasa, Tibet, China].

The geochemical characteristics of radon and mercury in soil gas in Lhasa and vicinity are investigated based on the measurements of Rn and Hg concentrations, and environmental quality for Rn and Hg in soil gas was evaluated by means of the index of geoaccumulation. The data of Rn and Hg of 1 579 sampling site indicate that the values of environmental-geochemical background of Rn and Hg are 7 634.9 Bq/m3, 41.5 ng/m3 with standard deviations of 2.7 Bq/m3, 2.2 ng/m3, respectively. The environmental quality for Rn in soil gas is better in the west and east parts of studied area, but becomes moderate pollution (level III) in the north part of the central area. Rn is derived from radioactive elements in granitic sediments in the intermountain basin and granite base, which are the major sources of pollution. The environmental quality for Hg in soil gas becomes gradually polluted from the suburban to the center of urban, and the highest pollution reaches level IV. The background of Hg in soil gas is mainly controlled by compositions of sediments, but the Hg pollution caused by human waste and religionary use of mercury.

The Transferrins from Amphioxus and the Molecular Evolution of Transferrin.

An amphioxus transferring was isolated and purified from the Xiamen amphioxus. Its physio-chemical properties are the same as those of Qingdao amphioxus transferrin. It is a glyco-protein with a molecular weight of 26 kD that is about a quarter of that of the transferrin from vertebrates. Its partial amino acid sequence and its C-terminal fragment were determined. By comparison with the sequence of human serum transferrin, it has been found that the sequence of human serum transferrin can be divided into 4 fragments with about equal size as the sequences of the amphioxus transferrin. There is quite a high homology between the sequences of amphioxus transferrin and each of the 4 fragments as well as between the four fragments. The results demonstrate that the current transferrin may be evolved from an ancestor transferrin with one quarter of the molecular weight as a result of twice gene duplication. Amphioxus transferrin may be the representative from of such ancestor transferrin.