In situ generation of highly reactive allenes from nitrocyclopropanes: controllable synthesis of enynes and enesters.

A new and efficient strategy for ring-opening reactions of nitrocyclopropanes is developed for the first time for the divergent synthesis of enynes and enesters via in situ generated highly reactive electron-deficient intermediate allenes. Controllable approaches resulted in enynes and enesters with up to 89% and 90% yields, respectively. The reaction features easy operation, involves green solvents and simple inorganic bases, and is transition-metal free.

Identification of key genes in Ankylosing spondylitis.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common form of seronegative spondyloarthritis. We had identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in AS based on our previous RNA-sequencing results. Our study aimed to identify key genes in AS by integrated microarray analysis. In this present study, we identified 1328 DEGs between AS and normal control by using integrated analysis of two datasets derived from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Functional annotation of DEGs were performed. Pathways in cancer, Pancreatic cancer and Natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity were significantly enriched pathways for DEGs. Based on the shared DEGs of AS in both integrated analysis and our previous RNA-sequencing results, we constructed the protein and protein interaction (PPI) network. BIRC2, MAPILC3A and MAGED1 were hub proteins. Validation of gene expression by qRT-PCR were performed and the results were consistent with our integrated analysis generally. Our finding provided new clues for understanding the mechanism of AS.

Spectral phase effects and control requirements of coherent beam combining for ultrashort ultrahigh intensity laser systems.

Based on the premise that further improvements to the size and damage threshold of large-aperture optical components are severely limited, coherent beam combining (CBC) is a promising way to scale up the available peak power of pulses for ultrashort ultrahigh intensity laser systems. Spectral phase effects are important issues and have a significant impact on the performance of CBC. In this work, we analyze systematically factors such as spectral dispersions and longitudinal chromatism, and get the general spectral phase control requirements of CBC for ultrashort ultrahigh intensity laser systems. It is demonstrated that different orders of dispersion influence intensity shape of the combined beam, and high-order dispersions affect the temporal contrast of the combined beam, while the number of the channels to be combined has little impact on the temporal Strehl ratio (SR) of the combined beam. In addition, longitudinal chromatism should be controlled effectively since it has a detrimental effect on the combined beam at the focal plane, both temporally and spatially.

Investigation of phase effects of coherent beam combining for large-aperture ultrashort ultrahigh intensity laser systems.

Large-aperture ultrashort ultrahigh intensity laser systems are able to achieve unprecedented super-high peak power. However, output power from a single laser channel is not high enough for some important applications and it is difficult to improve output power from a single laser channel significantly in the near future. Coherent beam combining is a promising method which combines many laser channels to obtain much higher peak power than a single channel. In this work, phase effects of coherent beam combining for large-aperture ultrashort laser systems are investigated theoretically. A series of numerical simulations are presented to obtain the requirements of spatial phase for specific goals and the changing trends of requirements for different pulse durations and number of channels. The influence of wavefront distortion on coherent beam combining is also discussed. Some advice is proposed for improving the performance of combining. In total, this work could help to design a practical large-aperture ultrashort ultrahigh intensity laser system in the future.

[Elemental size distribution of airborne fine and ultrafine particulate matters in the suburb of Shanghai, China].

The elemental size distributions of airborne fine/ultrafine particulate matters in the suburb of Shanghai were studied using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence. Median mass aerodynamic diameter (MMAD), elemental correlation coefficient as well as enrichment factor (EF) of each size fraction were calculated to characterize the sources of elements in fine/ultrafine particulate matters. Ca and Ti distributed mainly in coarse particles (> 2 microm) with size independent enrichment factors between 0.1 and 3.2, and the correlation coefficient between Ca and Ti was as high as 0.933, which implied strong contribution from nature sources, such as soil dusts and resuspended dusts. However, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cl, S mainly distributed in 0.1-1.0 microm particulate matters with MMAD between 0.56-0.94 microm. The EF of V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb increased with decreasing particle size. The highest EF were found for Pb in ultrafine particulate matters (< 0.1 microm) with EF of 2,023.7-2,244.2. The evidences suggested that these elements were significantly influenced by anthropogenic sources and enriched in fine/ultrafine particles smaller than 1 microm. Fe distributed uniformly in the particles larger than 0.2 microm with MMAD of 1.3 microm. The results indicated non-negligible influences of remote transmission of anthropogenic pollutions.