Physiological, Metabolome and Gene Expression Analyses Reveal the Accumulation and Biosynthesis Pathways of Soluble Sugars and Amino Acids in Sweet Sorghum under Osmotic Stresses.

Water scarcity is a major environmental constraint on plant growth in arid regions. Soluble sugars and amino acids are essential osmolytes for plants to cope with osmotic stresses. Sweet sorghum is an important bioenergy crop and forage with strong adaptabilities to adverse environments; however, the accumulation pattern and biosynthesis basis of soluble sugars and amino acids in this species under osmotic stresses remain elusive.

Effect of Rhizobium Symbiosis on Low-Temperature Tolerance and Antioxidant Response in Alfalfa ( L.).

Low temperature-induced stress is a major environmental factor limiting the growth and development of plants. Alfalfa ( L.) is a legume well known for its tolerance of extreme environments.

Sodium-Related Adaptations to Drought: New Insights From the Xerophyte Plant .

Understanding the unusual physiological mechanisms that enable drought tolerance in xerophytes will be of considerable benefit because of the potential to identify novel and key genetic elements for future crop improvements. These plants are interesting because they are well-adapted for life in arid zones; , for example, is a typical xerophytic shrub that inhabits central Asian deserts, accumulating substantial levels of sodium (Na) in its succulent leaves while growing in soils that contain very low levels of this ion. The physiological importance of this unusual trait to drought adaptations remains poorly understood, however.

[Study on the Properties of the Pc-Si Films Prepared by Magnetron Co-Sputtering at Low Temperature].

The polycrystalline silicon thin films play an important role in the field of electronics. In the paper, α-SiAl composite membranes on glass substrates was prepared by magnetron co-sputtering. The contents of Al radicals encapsulated-in the α-Si film can be adjusted by changing the Al to Si sputtering power ratios.

[The Influence of Deposition Pressure on the Properties of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Thin Films].

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films on soda-lime glass substrates were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using disilane and hydrogen as source gases. To study the influence of deposition pressure on the deposition rate, optical band gap and structure factor, a surface profilometer, an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the deposited thin films. It is found that the deposition rate firstly increased and then decreased and the optical band gap monotonically decreased with the increasing deposition pressure.

[Spectral Characteristics of Si Quantum Dots Embedded in SiN(x) Thin Films Prepared by Magnetron Co-Sputtering].

The silicon-rich SiN(x) films were fabricated on Si(100) substrate and quartz substrate at different substrate temperatures varying from room temperature to 400 degrees C by bipolar pulse ane RF magnetron co-sputtering deposition technique. After deposition, the films were annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere by rapid photothermal annealing at 1050 degrees C for 3 minutes. This thermal step allows the formation of the silicon quantum dots.

[Research on the phase and optical properties of nc-Si films prepared by low temperature aluminum induced crystallization].

In the present paper, nanocrystalline silicon thin films on glass substrates were prepared by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of RF magnetron sputtered system and alpha-Si/Al films at a low temperature in Nz atmosphere. Optical metallographic microscope, confocal optical microscopy, X-ray diffractometer, Raman scattering and UV-Vis-NIR spectrometers were used to characterize the surface morphology and the phase and optical properties of nc-Si films. The influence of annealing process on the nc-Si films properties was studied.

Insight into insulator-to-metal transition of sulfur-doped silicon by DFT calculations.

Using density functional theory calculations, the mechanism of insulator-to-metal transition of S-doped Si has been systematically investigated. The calculated crystal structure indicates that the gentle lattice distortion is caused by sulfur doping, and this doping effect is gradually weakened with the increase of sulfur concentration. Two distinct impurity energy levels in the band gap are induced by sulfur doping, and their position and width are linearly varying along with the increase of sulfur concentration.

[Study of scintillating luminescence spectra of lead tungstate scintillation crystal doped with ions].

The light yield of the as-grown PbWO4, annealed PbWO4 and BaF2:PbWO4 crystals were raised by utilizing our improved crystal growth instrument and technique. Their scintillating properties including transmittance, decay time and light yield were studied. Results reveal that the scintillating performances of the crystals were improved evidently by using the crystal annealing technique and the ions doping technique, especially the negative ions doping technique.

[The spectrum characterization of non-stoichiometry potassium lithium niobate crystals].

A batch of potassium lithium niobate (KLN) crystals with different compositions were grown by using TSSG technique. Samples with three different compositions were well polished. By using near infrared cw:Ti-sapphire laser, their Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) properties were investigated.