Ice in the Southern Coalsack

To better understand the conditions under which ice mantles form on grains in molecular clouds, three globules in the Southern Coalsack have been searched for the presence of H₂O ice. Given the total lack of star formation in the Coalsack, it is an ideal site for studying unprocessed icy molecular mantles. In our sample of eight field stars lying behind the Coalsack we detect strong H₂O ice absorption in the lines of sight to two stars and possible weak absorption in four others. We estimate H₂O ice column densities or upper limits for these lines of sight. Compared to dark clouds such as Taurus, the Coalsack H₂O ice column densities are lower than expected given the quiescent nature of the Coalsack region. It is possible that the chemical evolution of the Coalsack may simply be at too early a stage for significant ice mantles to appear on the grains, except perhaps in the densest parts of some of the globules. Alternatively, the presence or absence of ice absorption may be related to the distribution of dust along each line of sight, specifically, the relative contributions of dense globules and a more extended diffuse component. For example, our observations are consistent with an ice threshold extinction similar to that observed in the Taurus dark cloud if extinction amounting to   A _V∼5  towards Globules 2 and 3 arises in the extended component. Globule 1 appears to have no extended component.     

Irradiation of dust in molecular clouds. I. UV doses

The radiation fluxes inside molecular clouds owing to a neighboring class A star or to isotropic interstellar irradiation are calculated. Radiation within the interval 912 ? < λ < 2067 ? is found to penetrate deeply enough to ensure a radiation dose for water ice on the order of 100 eV/amu or more over the lifetime of the clouds, whether a star formation region is present or not. The possibility is discussed of using these results for an astrophysical interpretation of published data from laboratory experiments on irradiation of ices of the type H₂O:CH₃OH:NH₃:CO. The resulting radiation-chemical transformation of complex organic materials may play an important role in the prebiological evolution of the dust component of molecular clouds. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 311–324 (May 2009).     

Molecular Structure of Kerogen in the Longmaxi Shale: Insights from Solid State NMR,FT‐IR,XRD and HRTEM

Kerogen plays an important role in shale gas adsorption, desorption and diffusion. Therefore, it is necessary to characterize the molecular structure of kerogen. In this study, four kerogen samples were isolated from the organic-rich shale of the Longmaxi Formation. Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the maturity of these kerogen samples. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) , X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were conducted to characterize the molecular structure of the shale samples. The results demonstrate that VReqv of these kerogen samples vary from 2.3% to 2.8%, suggesting that all the kerogen samples are in the dry gas window. The macromolecular carbon skeleton of the Longmaxi Formation kerogen is mainly aromatic (fa’=0.56). In addition, the aromatic structural units are mainly composed of naphthalene (23%), anthracene (23%) and phenanthrene (29%). However, the aliphatic structure of the kerogen macromolecules is relatively low (fal*+falH=0.08), which is presumed to be distributed in the form of methyl and short aliphatic chains at the edge of the aromatic units. The oxygen-containing functional groups in the macromolecules are mainly present in the form of carbonyl groups (fac=0.23) and hydroxyl groups or ether groups (falO=0.13). The crystallite structural parameters of kerogen, including the stacking height (Lc=22.84 ?), average lateral size (La=29.29 ?) and interlayer spacing (d002=3.43 ?), are close to the aromatic structural parameters of anthracite or overmature kerogen. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that the aromatic structure is well oriented, and more than 65% of the diffractive aromatic layers are concentrated in the main direction. Due to the continuous deep burial, the longer aliphatic chains and oxygen-containing functional groups in the kerogen are substantially depleted. However, the ductility and stacking degree of the aromatic structure increases during thermal evolution. This study provides quantitative information on the molecular structure of kerogen samples based on multiple research methods, which may contribute to an improved understanding of the organic pores in black shale.     

我国新记录绿潮物种Ulva laetevirens的比较叶绿体基因组学研究

在全球范围内广泛暴发的石莼属绿潮既包括大规模暴发的跨海域绿潮,也包括小规模暴发的局地绿潮。我国有关绿潮致灾物种的研究对象主要集中于黄海绿潮浒苔,而针对局地绿潮致灾物种的研究尚处于起步阶段。针对局地绿潮物种的鉴定和分布调查是有效预防和监测潜在大规模绿潮暴发的重要环节。本文对2020年11月初于山东烟台第一海水浴场暴发的石莼属绿潮进行了初步研究。经随机采样获得了12株藻体,根据tufA分子标记初步将其中11株鉴定为Ulvalaetevirens。本研究完成了U. laetevirens的一个代表性株系CNS00533的叶绿体基因组构建和解析。叶绿体基因组为110 889 bp,含有71个蛋白编码基因、27个tRNA基因和3个rRNA基因(rrl、rrn和rrn5)。烟台海域U.laetevirens株系叶绿体基因组基因组成和排列顺序与爱尔兰海域U.laetevirens株系MT179351完全一致,DNA序列相似性为99.8%,进一步证明CNS00533为U.laetevirens。此外,U.laetevirens的烟台株系与爱尔兰株系的叶绿体基因组也存在差异,烟台株系比爱尔兰株系多了5个I型内含子和1个II型内含子,导致叶绿体基因组长度增加7kb。CNS00533与U.rigidaMT179352叶绿体基因组之间存在多个不同的长片段插入序列(763—2 346 bp), DNA序列相似性也较低(93.1%);与U. australis MT179348相比差异更大,存在一个较大(覆盖45个基因)的基因组反转事件。在基于71个蛋白编码基因的遗传进化树中, CNS00533与U. laetevirens MT179351聚类在一枝,与U. rigida MT179352遗传距离较近,与U. australis MT179348的遗传距离很远,表明U. laetevirens、U. rigida和U. australis为石莼属的3个不同物种。2020年11月烟台海域局地绿潮事件的原因种U. laetevirens在我国近海绿潮事件中首次报道,本研究对该物种的分子进化分析将有助于对我国近海绿潮监测、物种鉴定提供数据支持和理论依据。     

Researches on the Internal Molecular Weight Uniformity of Chitosan Biomaterials

Uniform molecular weight(Mw)chitosan(CS)is highly demanded in medical biomaterial industry.This present article described heterogeneous degradation of CS in aqueous HCl/ethanol solution,in which progress uniform Mw CS was successfully prepared.The Mw distribution of CS was measured by gel permeation chromatography(GPC)analysis.Moreover,the structure and properties of degraded CS were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(^1H NMR),X-ray diffraction(XRD)and thermogravimetric(TG)analysis.In addition,the biocompatibility of degraded CS was also assessed by hemolysis rate(HR)measurement.The Mw of CS dramatically decreased from 246 KDa to 76 k Da at the initial 30 min,and stabilized at 18 kDa after 24 h.GPC analysis results showed that the degraded CS molecular become homogenization.FT-IR and 1 H NMR analysis confirmed the basic structure of CS molecular backbone was not destroyed during this progress.Besides,the water solubility of CS was not significantly influenced by this reaction.Moreover,the XRD analysis revealed that crystallinity of degraded CS increased from 70.32% to 99.25%with time.The TG analysis showed improved thermal stability of degraded CS.HR measurement demonstrated the degraded CS possessed excellent biocompatibility.This simple and efficient heterogeneous degradation would open up a new route to produce uniform Mw CS.     

Cosmic-ray positrons: are there primary sources?

Galactic cosmic rays consist of primary and secondary particles. Primary cosmic rays are thought to be energized by first order Fermi acceleration processes at supernova shock fronts within our Galaxy. The cosmic rays that eventually reach the Earth from this source are mainly protons and atomic nuclei, but also include electrons. Secondary cosmic rays are created in collisions of primary particles with the diffuse interstellar gas. They are relatively rare but carry important information on the Galactic propagation of the primary particles. The secondary component includes a small fraction of antimatter particles, positrons and antiprotons. In addition, positrons and antiprotons may also come from unusual sources and possibly provide insight into new physics. For instance, the annihilation of heavy supersymmetric dark matter particles within the Galactic halo could lead to positrons or antiprotons with distinctive energy signatures. With the High-Energy Antimatter Telescope (HEAT) balloon-borne instrument, we have measured the abundances of positrons and electrons at energies between 1 and 50 GeV. The data suggest that indeed a small additional antimatter component may be present that cannot be explained by a purely secondary production mechanism. Here we describe the signature of the effect and discuss its possible origin.