[Development of a prototype of space vegetable-cultivating facility for ground-based experiments].

Objective: To develop a ground-based experimental prototype of space vegetable-cultivating facility (GEPSVF), so as to solve the main key techniques related to higher plant cultivation in space environmental conditions, and to further lay a foundation for future development and application of the prototype of space vegetable-growing facility.

Method: Based on detailed demonstration and design of technique plan, the blueprint design and machining of components, whole facility installment, debugging, trial operations and verification experiments were done.

Result: The parameters in the growing chamber such as temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, total pressure, O2 partial pressure, CO2 partial pressure and water content of the growing media were totally and effectively controlled; the light source was electronic fluorescent lamp; the average vegetable-producing output reached 60 g (fresh weight) d-1.

[Surgical treatment and prognosis of synchronous double primary lung cancer: a report of 31 cases].

Background & Objective: The idea of double primary lung cancer (DPLC) has been generally accepted. Recently, an increasing incidence of synchronous DPLC has been reported, while the diagnostic standard and treatment strategies remain to be improved. This study was to investigate effective surgical treatment, and prognosis of synchronous DPLC.

Ice surface reconstruction as antifreeze protein-induced morphological modification mechanism.

The crystal growth process by which fish antifreeze proteins (AFPs) and antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) modify the ice morphology is analyzed in the AFP-ice system. A newly identified AFP-induced surface reconstruction mechanism enables one-dimensional helical and irregular globular ice binding surfaces to stabilize secondary, kinetically less stable ice surfaces with variable face indices. Not only are the relative growth rates controlled by the IBS engagement but also the secondary face indices themselves become adjusted in the process of maximizing the AFP-substrate interaction, through attaining the best structural match.

Principles of mimicking and engineering the self-organized structure of hard tissues.

The mechanism of the formation of a self-aligned hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanocrystallite structure was examined. It is found that the highly ordered HAP nanocrystallite assembly is attributed to the so-called self-(homo)epitaxial nucleation and growth. On the other hand, according to this mechanism, a high supersaturation will give rise to a random assembly of HAP crystallites.

Antifreeze protein-induced morphological modification mechanisms linked to ice binding surface.

The mechanisms by which the antifreeze protein (AFP) modifies the ice morphology are identified precisely as surface poisoning by the ice binding surface (IBS) of insect AFPs and as bridge-induced surface reconstruction by the IBS of fish AFPs and antifreeze glycoproteins. The primary surfaces of hexagonal ice have predetermined face indices. The "two-dimensional" insect type IBS has regularly spaced binding intervals in two directions.

Alkane C-H activation and catalysis by an O-donor ligated iridium complex.

The first examples of well-defined, O-donor ligated, late-metal complexes that are competent for alkane C-H activation are reported. These complexes exhibit thermal and protic stability and are efficient catalysts for H/D exchange reactions with alkanes.

Zero-sized effect of nano-particles and inverse homogeneous nucleation. Principles of freezing and antifreeze.

It was found that freezing of water in terms of homogeneous nucleation of ice never occurs even in ultra-clean micro-sized water droplets under normal conditions. More surprisingly, at sufficiently low supercoolings, foreign nano-particles exert no effect on the nucleation barrier of ice; it is as if they physically "vanished." This effect, called hereafter the "zero-sized" effect of foreign particles (or nucleators), leads to the entry of a so-called inverse homogeneous-like nucleation domain, in which nucleation is effectively suppressed.

Creating new supramolecular materials by architecture of three-dimensional nanocrystal fiber networks.

The architecture of three-dimensional interconnecting self-organized nanofiber networks from separate needlelike crystals of L-DHL (lanosta-8,24-dien-3beta-ol:24,25-dihydrolanosterol = 56:44) in di-isooctylphthalate has been achieved for the first time, on the basis of the completely new concept of branching creation by additives (branching promoters). [In this work, an additive, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer (EVACP), is used at a concentration of several 10 ppm.] We demonstrate that this novel technique enables us to produce previously unknown self-supporting supramolecular functional materials with tailormade micro- or nanostructures, possessing significantly modified macroscopic properties, by utilizing materials thus far considered to be "useless".

Allelic loss on 13q in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas from northern China.

Allelic loss on chromosome 13 occurs frequently in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas. To define minimal deletion intervals and find candidate tumor suppressor gene(s), we conducted a study of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in 59 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas from northern China using a panel of ten microsatellite markers on chromosome 13q. The results showed that 12 of 59 (20%) cases presented allelic loss in three or more consecutive adjacent chosen markers, suggesting loss of larger fragments on chromosome 13q.

Framework Bonding and Coordination Sphere Rearrangement in the M(2)X(2) Cores of Synthetic Analogues of Oxyhemocyanin and Related Cu and Pt Complexes.

The electronic structures of oxo- and peroxo-bridged binuclear copper compounds analogous to the active site of oxyhemocyanin are analyzed in terms of their framework electron counts with the help of density functional and extended Hückel calculations. Through-ring bonding in the Cu(2)O(2) framework is discussed by means of a topological analysis of the electron density for the model compounds [(NH(3))(3)Cu(&mgr;-eta(2):eta(2)-O(2))Cu(NH(3))(3)](2+), [(NH(3))(3)Cu(&mgr;-O)(2)Cu(NH(3))(3)](2+), and [(PH(3))(2)Cu(&mgr;-H)(2)Cu(PH(3))(2)]. The existence of isomeric peroxo- and bis(oxo)-bridged Cu complexes can be rationalized in light of the framework electron counting rules by taking into account that two electrons can be localized in the metal 3d orbitals in the former but delocalized through framework bonding molecular orbitals in the latter.