Karst fissures mitigate the negative effects of drought on plant growth and photosynthetic physiology.

Hard limestone substrates, which are extensively distributed, are believed to exacerbate drought and increase the difficulty of restoration in vulnerable karst regions. Fissures in such substrates may alleviate the negative effect of drought on plants, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In a two-way factorial block design, the growth and photosynthesis of 2-year-old Phoebe zhennan seedlings were investigated in two water availabilities (high versus low) and three stimulated fissure habitat groups (soil, soil-filled fissure and non-soil-filled fissure).

Heralded entanglement distribution between two absorptive quantum memories.

Owing to the inevitable loss in communication channels, the distance of entanglement distribution is limited to approximately 100 kilometres on the ground. Quantum repeaters can circumvent this problem by using quantum memory and entanglement swapping. As the elementary link of a quantum repeater, the heralded distribution of two-party entanglement between two remote nodes has only been realized with built-in-type quantum memories.

Storage of telecom-C-band heralded single photons with orbital-angular-momentum encoding in a crystal.

A memory-based quantum repeater architecture provides a solution to distribute quantum information to an arbitrary long distance. Practical quantum repeaters are likely to be built in optical-fiber networks which take advantage of the low-loss transmission between quantum memory nodes. Most quantum memory platforms have characteristic atomic transitions away from the telecommunication band.

Multiplexed storage and real-time manipulation based on a multiple degree-of-freedom quantum memory.

The faithful storage and coherent manipulation of quantum states with matter-systems would enable the realization of large-scale quantum networks based on quantum repeaters. To achieve useful communication rates, highly multimode quantum memories are required to construct a multiplexed quantum repeater. Here, we present a demonstration of on-demand storage of orbital-angular-momentum states with weak coherent pulses at the single-photon-level in a rare-earth-ion-doped crystal.

Prognostic significance of Nemo-like kinase expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Nemo-like kinase (NLK) is an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine protein kinase and belongs to the extracellular signal-regulated kinases/microtubule-associated protein kinase families (Erks/MAPKs). Previous studies have indicated that abnormal expressions of NLK played critical roles in various types of human cancers. Recent studies suggested that NLK expression was significantly upregulated in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens.

[Effects of different application amount of N, P, K fertilizers on physiological characteristics, yield and kernel quality of peanut].

The field experiment was executed with peanut cv. Fenghua No. 1 from 2004 to 2005 in the experimental station of Shandong Agricultural University to study the effects of N, P, K fertilizers application amount on physiological characteristics, yield and kernel quality of peanut.

Interaction of water-soluble cationic porphyrin with anionic surfactant.

The interaction of a cationic water-soluble porphyrin, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis [4-(3-pyridiniumpropoxy)phenyl]porphyrin tetrakisbromide (TPPOC3Py), with anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), in aqueous solution has been studied by means of UV-vis, (1)H NMR, fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) spectra and dynamic laser light scattering (DLLS), and it reveals that TPPOC3Py forms porphyrin-surfactant complexes (aggregates), including ordered structures J- and H-aggregates, induced by association with surfactant monomers below the SDS critical micelle concentration (cmc), and forms micellized monomer upon the cmc, respectively. The position of TPPOC3Py in the micelle is determined, which is not in the micelle core instead of intercalated among the SDS chains, most likely with the pyridinium group extending into the polar headgroup region of the micelle.

Study on the inclusion behavior between meso-tetrakis[4-(3-pyridiniumpropoxy)phenyl]prophyrin tetrakisbromide and beta-cyclodextrin derivatives in aqueous solution.

The interaction of a cationic water-soluble porphyrin, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis[4-(3-pyridiniumpropoxy)phenyl]prophyrin tetrakisbromide (TPPOC3Py), with beta-CD and HP-beta-CD in aqueous solution has been studied by UV-vis, 1H NMR, 2D-NOESY and MALDI-TOF MS, and it reveals that a stable 1:1 inclusion complex between TPPOC3Py and HP-beta-CD or beta-CD has formed, in which one of the meso substituents of porphyrin ring has deeply penetrated through the cavity of HP-beta-CD from secondary face. The inclusion constants of the complexes of TPPOC3Py-beta-CD and TPPOC3Py-HP-beta-CD are (1.6+/-0.