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Detailed magnetic and geochemical measurements were performed on urban roadside soils collected from Lishui city, China, to establish a possible link between the enhanced concentration of traffic-related magnetic particles and heavy metals. Relatively higher magnetic susceptibility (mean: 124.1 × 10 m kg) and concentrations of metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) were observed for roadside soils. Concentration-dependent magnetic parameters (χ and SIRM) are highly significantly positively correlated to the concentration of metals (Ca, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Fe, and V), but not significantly correlated with As, Mn, Co, Mg, and K. The principal component analysis showed that χ and SIRM significantly correspond to elements Ca, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. The χ and SIRM also have significant linear correlation with integrated pollution index, indicating that χ and SIRM can be used as effective proxy indicators for the pollution of heavy metals. Magnetite in the pseudo-single-domain/multidomain (PSD/MD) grain size was identified as the dominant magnetic carrier by temperature-dependent measurements of saturation magnetization (Ms-T curve), XRD and hysteresis loops. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis of the magnetic particles revealed the presence of large traffic-related angular-subangular, blocky, and spherical iron oxide particles. These iron oxide particles are typical for particles produced by traffic-related anthropogenic activities. It is concluded that vehicle emissions may be the major source of elevated heavy metals and magnetic particles in roadside soils. The results proved the applicability of magnetic method in detecting roadside pollution derived from vehicle emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entanglement dynamics of three-qubit states under an XY spin chain at finite temperature with three-site interaction is investigated. It is shown that the three-site interaction does not affect the behavior of quantum phase transition (QPT) induced by the external magnetic field and does not induce new critical regions in the XY model. In addition, concerned with the effect of the three-site interaction on the entanglement evolution, we find the three-site interaction can not only enhance but also suppress the decay of the entanglement between the three-qubit system, which depends on the initial states of the system and the parameters related with the environmental spin chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentially expressed genes in eggplant ( Solanum torvum SW) during root infection with Verticillium dahliae were identified using cDNA-amplified restriction fragment polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) approach. A total of 140 differential transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) were isolated, in which 79 TDFs were up-regulated, and 34 TDFs were down-regulated after inoculation. BLAST analysis showed that 51% of these TDFs belonged to function-known genes. Further analysis on six TDFs (TDF11, TDF14, TDF16, TDF25, TDF26, and TDF39), which represented different expression patterns, was done. TDF11, encoding cytochrome c oxidase, appeared in 24 h after inoculation; TDF14, encoding retrotransposon protein, disappeared in 6 h after treatment; TDF16, encoding bZIP transcription factor, began to express only in 72 h after inoculation; TDF25, encoding senescence-associated protein, was present between 6 and 24 h; TDF26, encoding cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, and TDF39, encoding metallophosphoesterase, were up-regulated during the entire period after inoculation. Results obtained demonstrated that the defense of S. torvum against V. dahliae is a complex multigene process, which studying is helpful for better understanding verticillium wilt resistance of S. torvum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the thermal entanglement in the two-qubit Heisenberg XXZ model with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction, and teleport an unknown state using the model in thermal equilibrium state as a quantum channel. The effects of DM interaction, including Dx and Dz interaction, the anisotropy and temperature on the entanglement and fully entangled fraction are considered. What deserves mentioning here is that for the antiferromagnetic case, the Dx interaction can be more helpful for increasing the entanglement and critical temperature than Dz, but this cannot for teleportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full-length cDNA of a StCONSTANS-like ( StCOL) gene was cloned from potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) by RTPCR and RACE. The predicted amino acid sequence of this cDNA has a high degree of identity with other homologous members of the CO or COL family. Analysis of mRNA levels for StCOL shows that it is highly expressed in leaves and becomes weaker during tuberization; moreover, is independent of gibberellin A3 and sucrose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]