Manipulating electromagnetic wave propagating non-reciprocally by a chain of ferrite rods.

We demonstrated that non-reciprocal wave propagation could be manipulated by a magnetic rod chain under bias DC magnetic fields. Made of ferrite material YIG and designed working in the microwave X-band, the rod chain exhibited almost a total reflection when the incident wave obliquely impinged on the rod chain, but exhibited nearly a total transmission when the wave reversed its propagation direction. The non-reciprocal wave propagation was due to the non-reciprocal diffraction of the rod chain for the orders 0 and ± 1. Further, the non-reciprocal wave propagation was directly observed by using the field mapping technique. The unique non-reciprocal wave property of the magnetic rod chain provides a new way to control the flow of EM waves.

Observation of broadband unidirectional transmission by fusing the one-way edge states of gyromagnetic photonic crystals.

We experimentally demonstrate a broadband one-way transmission by merging the operating bands of two types of one-way edge modes that are associated with Bragg scattering and magnetic surface plasmon (MSP) resonance, respectively. By tuning the configuration of gyromagnetic photonic crystals and applied bias magnetic field, the fused bandwidth of unidirectional propagation is up to 2 GHz in microwave frequency range, much larger than either of the individual one-way bandwidth associated with Bragg scattering or MSP resonance. Our scheme for broadband one-way transmission paves the way for the practical applications of one-way transmission.

Lead and cadmium induced alterations of cellular functions in leaves of Alocasia macrorrhiza L. Schott.

Alocasia macrorrhiza is a fast growing and propagating herbaceous species commonly found in South China. To determine its physiological responses to Pb and Cd stresses, the biochemical, histochemical and cytochemical changes under PbAC2 and CdCl2 phytotoxicity were detected using leaf discs as an experimental model. After leaf discs were infiltrated in different concentrations of PbAC2 and CdCl2 solutions (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 microM) for 72 h, the formation of reactive oxygen species (H2O2 and O2-) in plant tissue were found to be exaggerated together with elevated OH concentration and cell death. Changes in chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm, PhiPSII, qP and NPQ) imaging colours/areas of leaf discs indicated decreased photosystem II functions by both heavy metal treatments and positive reactions of antioxidants under Pb2+ stress. Results showed that fluorescent detection of hydroxylated terephthlate using terephthalic acid as OH trap is a simple, yet valuable and specific method for monitoring OH generation in plant tissue under heavy metal stresses. As compared with Cd2+, Pb2+ was found to be less toxic, indicating that A. macrorrhiza tissue might have a potential tolerance to Pb.

Light acclimation and HSO(3) (-) damage on photosynthetic apparatus of three subtropical forest species.

The effects of long-term (33 months) sun/shade acclimation and short-term (within 10 h) HSO(3) (-) treatment on leaf photosynthetic apparatus were investigated in three subtropical forest plants, Pinus massoniana, Schima superba, and Acmena acuminatissima. After 33 months' growth in two light environments (100 and 12% sunlight), rapid light curves (RLC), chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and chloroplast ultrastructures of three tested species were changed to different degrees. When leaf sections were immersed in 50 mM NaHSO(3) for 10 h, all the RLCs were lowered; chlorophyll fluorescence imaging was inclined to present warmer colors and imaging areas were decreased. However, changes in chloroplast ultrastructures differed from three species. Our results showed that the photosynthetic apparatus of a dominant species, A. acuminatissima, in the late succession stage of a subtropical forest in South China, was less sensitive to NaHSO(3) under both growing light intensities. Conversely, the chloroplasts of P. massoniana, the pioneer heliophyte species, were most susceptible to NaHSO(3). It is deduced that, SO(2) pollution may become as a factor to accelerate the succession of subtropical forest.

Enhanced sensitivity of Arabidopsis anthocyanin mutants to photooxidation: a study with fluorescence imaging.

Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and antioxidative capability in detached leaves of the wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Landsberg erecta (Ler) and in three mutants deficient in anthocyanin biosynthesis (tt3, tt4 and tt3tt4) were investigated under photooxidation stress induced by methyl viologen (5 µm) in the light. In comparison with the wild-type (WT) plant, photooxidation resulted in significant decreases in the contents of total phenolics and flavonoid, total antioxidative capability and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fv/Fm, qP, ΦPSII, NPQ and ETR) as determined by chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, and in an increase in cell-membrane leakiness in the three anthocyanin mutants. The sequence of sensitivity to photooxidation in the leaves of the four phenotypes were tt3tt4 (deficient in both chalcone synthase locus (CHS) and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase locus (DFR)) > tt4 (deficient in CHS) > tt3 (deficient in DFR) > WT. The results demonstrate that anthocyanins might, along with other antioxidants, protect the photosynthetic apparatus against photooxidative damage. An interesting phenomenon was observed over the 270 min of the photooxidative treatment, that is, fluorescence imaging revealed that qP, ΦPSII and ETR appeared in three phases (fall → partial recovery → rapid fall). This was considered to be a modulation of reversible deactivation in PSII to cope with the moderate oxidative stress in the first two stages of short-term treatment (<150 min), followed finally by damage to PSII under severe oxidative stress with prolonged treatment.

Stress-induced alteration of chlorophyll fluorescence polarization and spectrum in leaves of Alocasia macrorrhiza L. Schott.

The value of intrinsic chlorophyll fluorescence polarization, and the intensity in emission spectrum were investigated in leaf segments of Alocasia macrorrhiza under several stress conditions including different temperatures (25-50 degrees C), various concentrations of NaCl (0-250 mM), methyl viologen (MV, 0-25 microM), SDS (0-1.0%) and NaHSO(3) (0-80 microM). Fluorescence emission spectrum of leaves at wavelength regions of 500-800 nm was monitored by excitation at 436 nm. The value of fluorescence polarization (P value), as result of energy transfer and mutual orientation between chlorophyll molecules, was determined by excitation at 436 nm and emission at 685 nm. The results showed that elevated temperature and concentrations of salt (NaCl), photooxidant (MV), surfactant (SDS) and simulated SO(2) (NaHSO(3)) treatments all induced a reduction of fluorescence polarization to various degrees. However, alteration of the fluorescence spectrum and emission intensity of F(685) and F(731) depended on the individual treatment. Increase in temperature and concentration of NaHSO(3) enhanced fluorescence intensity mainly at F(685), while an increase in MV concentration led to a decrease at both F(685) and F(731). On the contrary, NaCl and SDS did not cause remarkable change in fluorescence spectrum. Among different treatments, the negative correlation between polarization and fluorescence intensity was found with NaHSO(3) treatments only. We concluded that P value being measured with intrinsic chlorophyll fluorescence as probe in leaves is a susceptible indicator responding to changes in environmental conditions. The alteration of P value and fluorescence intensity might not always be shown a functional relation pattern. The possible reasons of differed response to various treatments were discussed.

The antioxidative function of lutein: electron spin resonance studies and chemical detection.

In the present study, both electron spin resonance (ESR) and chemical detection confirmed that lutein [extracted from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)], the most abundant xanthophyll in thylakoids of chloroplasts, could serve as an antioxidant to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vitro. Lutein exhibited a greater capacity for scavenging hydroxyl (OH·) and superoxide (O2·-) radicals than ß-carotene at the same concentration, whereas the opposite trend was observed in the capacity for scavenging singlet oxygen (1O2). The capacity of lutein for scavenging ROS from high to low is OH· > O2·- > 1O2. We hypothesise that lutein plays an important photoprotective role in scavenging O2·- and OH· under severe stress. This hypothesis is consistent with our previous report that the lut2 (lutein-deficient) Arabidopsis mutant is more susceptible to damage than the npq1 (lutein-replete but violaxanthin de-epoxidase-deficient) Arabidopsis mutant under severe stress during exposure to high light intensity at low temperature (Peng and Gilmore 2003).

Surface stress on the erythrocyte under laser irradiation with finite-difference time-domain calculation.

The surface stress on the real shape (biconcave disklike) of an erythrocyte under laser irradiation is theoretically studied according to the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The distribution of the surface stresses depends on the orientation of erythrocytes in the laser beam. Typically when the erythrocyte was irradiated from the side direction (the laser beam was perpendicular to the normal of the erythrocyte plane), the surface stresses were so asymmetrical and nonuniform that the magnitude of the surface stress on the back surface was three times higher than that on the front surface, and the highest-to-lowest ratio of the stress reached 16 times. For comparison, the surface stress was also calculated according to the ray optics (RO) method. The tendency of the stress distribution from the RO calculation was roughly similar to that of the FDTD method. However the RO calculation produced some unphysical results, such as the infinite stress on some surface region and the zero stress on the most parts of the erythrocyte surface, which is due to the neglecting of light diffraction. The results obtained from the FDTD calculation are believed quantitatively reliable, because the FDTD method automatically takes into account of the diffraction and interference effects of the light wave. Thus, the FDTD method is more suitable than the RO method for the stress study of erythrocytes.

Lattice Boltzmann model with nearly constant density.

An improved lattice Boltzmann model is developed to simulate fluid flow with nearly constant fluid density. The ingredient is to incorporate an extra relaxation for fluid density, which is realized by introducing a feedback equation in the equilibrium distribution functions. The pressure is dominated by the moving particles at a node, while the fluid density is kept nearly constant and explicit mass conservation is retained as well. Numerical simulation based on the present model for the (steady) plane Poiseuille flow and the (unsteady) two-dimensional Womersley flow shows a great improvement in simulation results over the previous models. In particular, the density fluctuation has been reduced effectively while achieving a relatively large pressure gradient.

Leaf carbon isotope and mineral composition in subtropical plants along an irradiance cline.

Leaf carbon isotope ratios and leaf mineral composition (Ca, K, Mg, Mn, N, and P) were measured on the dominant species along an irradiance cline in a subtropical monsoon forest of southern China. This irradiance cline resulted from disturbance caused by fuel-harvesting. Leaf carbon isotope ratios increased from undisturbed to disturbed sites for all species, indicating that leaf intercellular CO2 concentrations decreased and leaf water use efficiencies increased along this cline. Nitrogen and magnesium levels were lower in leaves of species on the disturbed sites, but there were no clear patterns for calcium, potassium, phosphorus or manganese.