We report the discovery of a new diluted magnetic semiconductor, Li(Zn,Mn)P, in which charge and spin are introduced independently via lithium off-stoichiometry and the isovalent substitution of Mn 2+ for Zn 2+ , respectively. Isostructural to (Ga,Mn)As, Li(Zn,Mn)P was found to be a p-type ferromagnetic semiconductor with excess Lithium providing charge doping. First principles calculations indicate that excess Li is favored to partially occupy the Zn site, leading to hole doping. Ferromagnetism is mediated in semiconducting samples of relative low mobile carriers with a small coercive force, indicating an easy spin flip.

In this paper, we reported the realization of 2nd-order random lasing in a half-opened fiber cavity, which is formed by a FBG with central wavelength at the 1st-order Raman Stokes wavelength and a single-mode fiber (SMF) performing as a random distributed feedback mirror. Using this proposed method, the threshold of 1st-order (2nd-order) random lasing is reduced to 0.7 (2.0) W, which is nearly 2 times lower than that observed in a completely-opened cavity.

Spatial patterns and interspecific associations of plant species in forests are important for revealing how species interact with each other and with the environment, and hence have important implications for optimal forest management and restoration in degraded forest ecosystems. In this paper, the O-ring statistics were used to characterize the spatial patterns and interspecific associations of eight dominant tree species in two 1-ha old-growth karst forest plots in Maolan National Natural Reserve, southwestern China. We found that most of the eight dominant tree species in two forests were continuously regenerating populations. Six species (Platycarya longipes, Acer wangchii, Clausena dunniana, Castanopsis carlesii var. spinulosa, Distylium myricoides, and Rhododendron latoucheae) exhibited significant aggregations at the majority of scales while others (Celtis biondii and Cyclobalanopsis myrsinaefolia) showed a random distribution pattern at most scales. Negative association was a dominant pattern for most species pairs in the two plots, while positive associations were found at most scales for only two species pairs (Platycarya-Clausena and Castanopsis-Rhododendron). Results also indicated that the two main factors of habitat complexity and heterogeneity-the elevation and rock-bareness rate-play important roles in determining spatial distribution patterns and interspecific associations of tree species in karst forests of Maolan. Thus, the observed spatial patterns among the eight tree species are influenced by habitat heterogeneity in the context of karst topographical variations. The partitioning of habitat niches contributes to the promoting species coexistence in species-rich karst forests. The differences of species features in spatial patterns and associations should be paid more attention when planning forest management and developing restoration strategies.

Lipases are ubiquitous enzymes of great physiological significance that have been used extensively in multiple industries. Environmental microorganisms are a major source for the discovery of novel lipases with high catalytic efficiency and selectivity. However, current plate-based screening of lipase-producing strains is time consuming, labour intensive and inefficient. In this study, we developed an ultra-high throughput screening pipeline for lipase-producing strains based on fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) using a compact optical system that could be easily set up in an alignment-free manner. The pipeline includes droplet generation, droplet incubation, picoinjection of the fluorescence probe, and sorting of droplets with a throughput of 2 × 10 drops per h. We applied the pipeline to screen samples collected from different locations, including sediments from a hot spring in Tibet, soils from the Zoige wetland, contaminated soils from an abandoned oilfield, and a Chinese Daqu starter. In total, we obtained 47 lipase-producing bacterial strains belonging to seven genera, including Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Serratia, Prolinoborus, Acinetobacter, and Leclercia. We believe that this FADS-based pipeline could be extended to screen various enzymes from the environment, and may find wide applications in breeding of industrial microorganisms.