ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dina V. Deyneko, Ivan V. Nikiforov, Bogdan I. Lazoryak, Dmitry A. Spassky, Ivan I. Leonidov, Sergey Yu. Stefanovich, Daria A. Petrova, Sergey M. Aksenov, Peter C. Burns〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Novel red emitting phosphors Ca〈sub〉8〈/sub〉MgSm〈sub〉1–〈em〉х〈/em〉〈/sub〉(PO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉)〈sub〉7〈/sub〉:〈em〉x〈/em〉Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 with whitlockite-type structure were prepared by a high temperature solid-state reaction in air. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), photoluminescence spectra, and fluorescence decay were used to characterize the structure and luminescence properties. All samples were found to have the expected rhombohedral structure with 〈em〉R〈/em〉〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.gif" overflow="scroll"〉〈mrow〉〈mover accent="true"〉〈mn〉3〈/mn〉〈mo〉¯〈/mo〉〈/mover〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉〈em〉c〈/em〉 space group. The non-polar space group is also confirmed by a photoluminescence study. This space group allows forbidden transitions for Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉. The presence of only one Shtark component in 〈sup〉5〈/sup〉D〈sub〉0〈/sub〉–〈sup〉7〈/sup〉F〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 confirms the presence of only one non-equivalent site containing Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions. The high intensity of the transition ratio 〈sup〉5〈/sup〉D〈sub〉0〈/sub〉–〈sup〉7〈/sup〉F〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/〈sup〉5〈/sup〉D〈sub〉0〈/sub〉–〈sup〉7〈/sup〉F〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 establishes the strongly disordered environment of the Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions. Thus, 〈em〉M〈/em〉1–〈em〉M〈/em〉3 sites in the host matrix are occupied by Ca〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉, Sm〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉, and Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions, whereas 〈em〉M〈/em〉5 is fully occupied by Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉. The optimal concentration was found with 〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0.75 in Ca〈sub〉8〈/sub〉MgSm〈sub〉1–〈em〉х〈/em〉〈/sub〉(PO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉)〈sub〉7〈/sub〉:〈em〉x〈/em〉Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 phosphors. The emitting of Sm〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 was depressed due to the high intensity of Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 luminescence; however, the contribution of Sm〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 is manifested in the energy transfer process and shift of CIE coordinates. Furthermore, the CIE chromaticity coordinate of 〈em〉as-prepared〈/em〉 Ca〈sub〉8〈/sub〉MgSm〈sub〉0.25〈/sub〉(PO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉)〈sub〉7〈/sub〉:0.75Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0.650; 〈em〉y〈/em〉 = 0.345) is close to the standard red-emitting point (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0.67, 〈em〉y〈/em〉 = 0.33). The experimental data indicate that Ca〈sub〉8〈/sub〉MgSm〈sub〉1–〈em〉х〈/em〉〈/sub〉(PO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉)〈sub〉7〈/sub〉:〈em〉x〈/em〉Eu〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 upon excitation by near-UV radiation is a promising red phosphor for white-light-emitting diodes.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925838818339999-fx1.jpg" width="131" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): M.A. Baqué, V.V. Gioria, G.A. Micheloud, N.M.C. Casado, J.D. Claus, A.M. Gennaro〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Different spin labels were incorporated to the membranes of cultured insect UFL-AG-286 cells in order to characterize their physical properties by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy (EPR). The spectrum of the spin label 12-SASL incorporated to cell membranes was similar as those obtained in membrane model systems composed of eggPC/cholesterol. However, the spectrum of the spin label CSL, chemically related to cholesterol, was drastically different in the two systems. Interestingly, when cell cholesterol content was reduced using methyl beta cyclodextrin, an EPR spectrum similar to those of model membranes was obtained. The analysis of these experiments suggests the existence of cholesterol rich regions in UFL-AG-286 cell membranes.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Beijun Wu, Chunxia Li, Huimeng Lei〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉SAP90/PSD95-associated proteins (SAPAPs) are one type of scaffold protein in the postsynaptic density (PSD). Scaffold proteins play an important role in synaptic function. Recently, many studies have shown that mutations associated with scaffold proteins cause dysfunction in neuronal circuitry and in behavior. SAPAP4, as a protein in the SAPAP family, may have an impact on synaptic functions and on behaviors. To test this hypothesis, mice with a genetic deletion of SAPAP4 were used in our study. SAPAP4−/− mice displayed decreased cocaine sensitivity behavior after an acute injection of 20 mg/kg cocaine. We also found that the spine density of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell was reduced in SAPAP4−/− mice. Furthermore, SAPAP4−/− mice displayed altered synaptic transmission and a decreased frequency and amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in the NAc. Our findings demonstrate that SAPAP4 plays a critical role in cocaine-related behavior and in the synaptic function of the NAc.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shengkai Luo, Hua Huang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈em〉In vivo〈/em〉 growth study indicates that 〈em〉Mycobacterium smegmatis〈/em〉 could utilize D-ribonate as sole carbon source under an unknown pathway. To clarify this pathway, we start with the statistical analysis of genome neighborhood networks(GNNs) of erythrulose kinase which has been approved to participate in several sugars’ degradation. In 〈em〉M. smegmatis〈/em〉, two novel dehydrogenases (3HCDH & ADH_short) and one unknown isomerase (AP_endonuc) are targeted and characterized, for the catabolism of D-ribonate in this organism, this acid sugar is firstly oxidized into 2-keto-D-ribonate by a dehydrogenase, and then sequentially isomerized to 3-keto D-ribonate by an AP_endonuc isomerase; afterward, through decarboxylation, this 3-keto sugar acid is degraded into D-erythrulose which enters a known pathway through erythrulose kinase. Additionally, several other acid sugars (L-ribonate, D/L-lyxonate, L-threonate and D-erythronate) have been proved to be catalyzed by same enzymes and proceed with a similar catabolic pathway.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chen Lei, Han Xueming, Duan Ruihang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Diabetes mellitus is known as a main cause to induce osteoporosis. However, the pathogenesis of osteoporosis induced by diabetes has not been fully understood. MLN64 is highly homologous to the steroidogenic acute regulatory (STAR) protein, sharing the highly conserved START domain and exhibiting various biological activities. In the study, we attempted to explore the role of MLN64 in osteoporosis progression through the in vitro and in vivo studies. At first, the in vitro study suggested that MLN64 was over-expressed during the osteoclast differentiation induced by receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL). MLN64-knockdown markedly reduced the number of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells induced by RANKL, along with the down-regulation of specific genes related to osteoclastogenesis, including tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFATc1), cathepsin K (CTSK), tartrate resistant (ACP5) and c-FOS and up-regulation of transcriptional receptor runt related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and osteopontin (OPN). In contrast, over-expressing MLN64 significantly promoted the production of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells triggered by RANKL. Moreover, RANKL exposure led to remarkable increase in inflammatory factors, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and MMP-1, which was attenuated by the knockdown of MLN64. Additionally, the expression of phosphorylated (p)〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉IKKα, 〈em〉p〈/em〉-IκBα and p-nuclear factor (NF)-κB stimulated by RANKL was clearly alleviated by MLN64 silence. However, RANKL-induced inflammation was accelerated by MLN64 over-expression. Further, the in vivo study suggested that streptozotocin (STZ)-caused reduction in body weight of mice was improved by the loss of MLN64. STZ-induced diabetic mice exhibited higher levels of blood alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and TRAP, while being down-regulated in MLN64-knockout mice. MLN64 deletion reversed STZ-induced trabecular deleterious effects and stimulated bone remodeling. What's more, MLN64 knockout inhibited the expression levels of TRAP, RANKL and RANK in femoral heads of STZ mice, accompanied with the repression of inflammatory response. In conclusion, the results in our study suggested that MLN64 played a critical role in the meditation of osteoclastic differentiation, and its suppression alleviated diabetic osteoporosis in STZ-induced mice. Thus, MLN64 could be served as an essential target for developing effective therapeutic strategy to prevent diabetic osteoporosis.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yulia Zhitnyuk, Peter Gee, Mandy S.Y. Lung, Noriko Sasakawa, Huaigeng Xu, Hirohide Saito, Akitsu Hotta〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The delivery of mRNA is advantageous over DNA delivery as it is transient and does not carry the risk of genomic DNA integration. However, there are currently few efficient mRNA delivery options available, especially for hard-to-transfect cell types, and thus new delivery methods are needed. To this end, we have established a novel mRNA delivery system utilizing chimeric virus-like particles (VLPs). We generated a novel VLP by fusing protein G of Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-G) with a ribosomal protein L7Ae of 〈em〉Archeoglobus fulgidus〈/em〉. This system allowed the efficient delivery of EGFP mRNA which was independent from the presence of BoxC/D motif in the mRNA sequence. Our VSVG-L7Ae VLP system demonstrated high transduction efficacy in hard-to-transfect cell lines, such as human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) and monocytes. In summary, this platform may serve as an efficient and transient transgene delivery tool for an mRNA of interest.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tania Yareli Gutiérrez-López, Lennis Beatríz Orduña-Castillo, Magda Nohemí Hernández-Vásquez, José Vázquez-Prado, Guadalupe Reyes-Cruz〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) activates the NLRP3 inflammasome with consequences on homeostatic responses. However, little is known about how this process is orchestrated. Since proteolysis of critical regulators of NLRP3 inflammasome contribute to its activation, we aimed to understand how CaSR stimulates proteolytic pathways to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. We found that proteasome and lysosome-dependent mechanisms are activated by CaSR to promote the degradation of important regulators of NLRP inflammasome. The pathway involves Gαq/PLC/PKC and Gβγ/PI3K signaling cascades and IRAK1 ubiquitination. In addition, CaSR stimulates Hsp70 expression activating a chaperone-assisted protein degradation that dictates the fate of ASC, NLRP3 (NOD-like receptor family protein 3), IRAK1 and TRAF6 proteins, turning on the NLRP3 inflammasome. In response to CaSR signaling, these proteins are degraded through the combination of CUPS (chaperone-assisted ubiquitin proteasome pathway) and CAEMI (chaperone-assisted endosomal microautophagy) systems being integrated by autophagosomes (chaperone-assisted macroautophagy, CAMA), as indicated by LC3-II, a classical marker for autophagy, that is induced in the process. Furthermore, CaSR triggers the proteolytic cleavage of pro-IL-1β (IL-1β, 31 kDa) into mature IL-1β (IL-1β, 17 kDa), via the proteasome. Taken together, our results indicate that CaSR promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation and proteolytic maturation of IL-1β by inducing CUPS and CAEMI, chaperone-assisted degradation pathways. Overall, these results support the inclusion of CaSR as an activator of homeostasis-altering molecular processes.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Keita Sonoda, Teppei Matsui, Haruhiko Bito, Kenichi Ohki〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Astrocytes are known to contact with a great number of synapses and may integrate sensory inputs. In the ferret primary visual cortex, astrocytes respond to a visual stimulus with a delay of several seconds with respect to the surrounding neurons. However, in the mouse visual cortex, it remains unclear whether astrocytes respond to visual stimulations. In this study, using dual-color simultaneous 〈em〉in vivo〈/em〉 two-photon calcium imaging of neurons and astrocytes in the awake mouse visual cortex, we examined the visual response of astrocytes and their precise response timing relative to the surrounding neurons. Neurons reliably responded to visual stimulations, whereas astrocytes often showed neuromodulator-mediated global activities, which largely masked small visual responses. Administration of the selective α1-adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin substantially reduced such global astrocytic activities without affecting the neuronal visual responses. In the presence of prazosin, astrocytes showed weak but consistent visual responses mostly at their somata. Cross-correlation analysis estimated that the astrocytic visual responses were delayed by approximately 5 seconds relative to the surrounding neuronal responses. In conclusion, our research demonstrated that astrocytes in the primary visual cortex of awake mice responded to visual stimuli with a delay of several seconds relative to the surrounding neurons, which may indicate the existence of a common mechanism of neuron–astrocyte communication across species.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jinxia Wang, Haizhen Li, Xiaoning Wang, Tao Shen, Shuqi Wang, Dongmei Ren〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Alisol B-23-acetate (AB23A), a tetracyclic triterpenoid isolated from the rhizome of 〈em〉Alisma orientale〈/em〉, has been reported to exert anti-proliferative activities in human colon, ovarian and gastric cancer cells. However, the anti-cancer effect of this compound on human lung cancer cells has not yet been thoroughly elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effects of AB23A on the cell viability and apoptosis in human lung cancer A549 and NCI-H292 cells. The results indicated that AB23A inhibited the growth of A549 and NCI-H292 cells in dose- and time-dependent manner, however, there was only weak cytotoxicity on normal bronchial epithelial cells. The induction of apoptosis by AB23A was demonstrated by DAPI and annexin-V-FITC/PI staining. Further investigation revealed that AB23A decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and up regulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. Meanwhile, the increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, activated caspase-3, caspase-9 and PARP were observed. In addition, AB23A increased the release of cytochrome 〈em〉c〈/em〉 from mitochondria and the translocation of apoptotic inducing factor (AIF) into nuclei. Taken together, these results indicated that AB23A induced apoptosis by activating the intrinsic pathway, and suggested that AB23A can be used as a potential modulating agent in lung cancer.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0006291X18321648-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shuo Qiu, Yachao Jia, Jin Tang, Xuanzhe Liu, Hai Hu, Tianyi Wu, Yimin Chai〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Enthesis is the region where a tendon attaches to a bone. It is a relatively vulnerable position, and in most cases surgical treatment is required upon rupture. The reconstructed enthesis is usually weaker compared to the original, and is prone to rupture again. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α (HIF-1α) is known to be involved in extensive activities in cells. It is inhibited under normoxic conditions, and undergoes two essential processes, hydroxylation and ubiquitination, the latter of which has been largely unexplored. Herein, we measured the levels of HIF-1α and hydroxy-HIF-1α in VH298-treated rat tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs) by immunoblotting. We also detected the proliferation of TDSCs using CCK-8 assay and the mRNA levels of related genes by quantitative RT-PCR. The TDSCs were observed to be induced and the chondrogenic differentiation related genes were found to be enhanced. We also simulated in-vitro wounding in a scratch test and reconstructed the enthesis in a rat model of Achilles tendon by classical surgery followed by administration of phosphate buffer saline (PBS) injection or VH298 injection. We observed that HIF-1α and hydroxy-HIF-1α levels were increased in VH298-treated TDSCs in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Thirty micromolar VH298 could significantly increase cell proliferation, migration, and expression of collagen-1α, collagen-3α, decorin, tenomodulin, tenascin C genes, and chondrogenic differentiation-related genes, collagen-2α, SRY-box9, aggrecan. VH298-treated enthesis could tolerate more load-to-failure, had a better healing pattern, and activation of HIF signaling pathway. VH298 can thus enhance the functional activities of TDSCs, enhance their chondrogenic differentiation potential, and accelerate enthesis healing by inhibiting the ubiquitination of hydroxy-HIF-1α.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Applied Surface Science, Volumes 467–468〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Min Sun, Wei Hu, Tianqiong Cheng, Yusheng Chen, Peng Yao, Ming Zhao, Shandong Yuan, Yaoqiang Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A series of Ce〈sub〉0.75〈/sub〉Zr〈sub〉0.25〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 samples were prepared by conventional coprecipitation, wet impregnation method and novel deposition precipitation, after the corresponding Pd-only close coupled catalysts were obtained by incipient wet impregnation. Differences in surface properties and catalytic performance were investigated systematically by a wealth of characterizations. XPS, H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-TPR and CO chemisorption revealed that the different preparation methods of Ce〈sub〉0.75〈/sub〉Zr〈sub〉0.25〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 led to different intensity of interaction between PdO species and support, thus forming different palladium dispersions. BET, XRD and activity evaluation indicated the catalyst obtained by novel deposition precipitation presented superior textural properties, catalytic performance and thermal stability, due to the strongest interaction proved by H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-TPR, XPS and CO chemisorption, which could retard the sintering of noble metal during the aging process. HRTEM images indicate for the catalysts, PdO species are mainly dispersed and stabilized on the ceria resulting from the lower redox potential of Pd〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉/Pd〈sup〉0〈/sup〉 (0.95 V) than that of Ce〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Ce〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 (1.72 V). Consequently, it owned higher surface PdO content and dispersion than the catalysts prepared by coprecipitation and impregnation method, presenting its higher catalytic properties.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The different preparation methods about ceria-zirconia modified alumina influence palladium dispersion by the interaction, which is main factor in influencing close coupled catalytic activity. The catalyst obtained by deposition precipitation owns higher surface palladium species than the sample synthesized by coprecipitation method, and higher palladium dispersion than the catalyst prepared by wet-impregnation method. A simple process is described as is shown above, and specific process is illustrated in my article.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0169433218329696-ga1.jpg" width="198" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ngoc-Hanh Cao-Luu, Quoc-Thai Pham, Zong-Han Yao, Fu-Ming Wang, Chorng-Shyan Chern〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉How to encapsulate poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) mesoglobule cores by silica shells greatly affects the resultant nanoparticle structures. Incorporation of acrylamide (AM) unit into PNIPAM in combination with 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GLYMO, as a coupling agent) effectively induces nucleation and growth of silica on PNIPAM core surfaces, where the –NH〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 of acrylamide reacts with the epoxide of GLYMO while GLYMO further participates in subsequent sol-gel reaction of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), thereby leading to desirable particle morphology.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉PNIPAM-based core–silica shell nanoparticles were prepared by sol〈em〉-〈/em〉gel reaction of TEOS and GLYMO in the presence of polymeric core particles. The major parameters investigated in a systematic fashion include acrylamide concentration and weight ratio of polymer:GLYMO:TEOS. GPC, DLS, DSC, FE-SEM, TEM, FTIR and TGA were then used to characterize polymeric cores and hybrid nanoparticles.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉The particle morphology was governed primarily by the acrylamide content and the weight ratio of PNIPAM/AM:GLYMO:TEOS, and desirable hybrid nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution were achieved. The LCST of PNIPAM-based mesoglobules increases with increasing acrylamide content. Encapsulation of PNIPAM-based mesoglobules with silica also reduces their thermo-sensitivity. This is the first report of developing a novel approach to prepare PNIPAM-based mesoglobule core–silica shell nanoparticles with controllable particle morphologies.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312888-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Volume 345〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hyunsung Choi, Jeong Whan Yoon〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Stress integration algorithm based on finite difference method (FDM) was proposed to effectively deal with both first and second derivatives of yield and potential functions which are the lengthiest component in stress integration procedure. With the proposed numerical algorithm, both first and second derivatives of yield function are approximated by central difference method, so that finite element modeling using advanced constitutive model could be easily performed no matter how complicated its derivatives are. For the verification purpose, the algorithm was applied for advanced constitutive models: Plastic anisotropy model under associated (AFR) and non-associated flow rule (non-AFR), the homogeneous anisotropic hardening (HAH) model under associated (AFR) and non-associated flow rule (non-AFR). The proposed algorithm was verified with single element loading–unloading and cup-drawing simulations. The Euler backward method based on both the proposed numerical algorithm and analytical derivatives were employed for verification purpose. The accuracy and time efficiency of the proposed numerical algorithm were evaluated by comparing the simulation results from analytical derivatives. In addition, the applicability of the proposed numerical algorithm for the HAH models was estimated with single element loading–unloading, loading–reloading, and deep-drawing/springback simulations. Non-associated flow plasticity for the HAH model is newly proposed to improve numerical efficiency with finite difference method by keeping the same level of accuracy as associated flow rule plasticity. All the simulation results proved that the proposed numerical algorithm can be widely used for the implementation of advanced constitutive models.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wanwu Ding, Chen Xu, Xingang Hou, Xiaoyan Zhao, Taili Chen, Wenjun Zhao, Tiandong Xia, Jisen Qiao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The new type of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy was prepared by commercial pure Al, Ti powder, graphite powder, Al powder and La〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 powder by aluminum melt in-situ reaction method. The microstructure and the effect on commercial pure aluminum of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XDR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The synthesis thermodynamics and kinetics of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy were analyzed. The experiment shows that Al-Ti-C-La master alloy is composed of Al, Al〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Ti, TiC and Ti〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉20〈/sub〉La. The refining performance of the prepared Al-Ti-C-La master alloy is obviously better than that of Al-Ti-C master alloy when the addition of rare earth oxide La〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 is 10 wt% and the preparation temperature is 930 °C. The analysis of thermodynamic calculation and the process of kinetics demonstrate that, in the preparation process of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy, firstly, Al reacts with Ti to produce Al〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Ti, C reacts with Ti and Al〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Ti to form TiC based on the aluminothermy reaction. Rare earth oxide La〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 and C powder react with Ti powder and O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 in the air occur to generate CO, TiC, [La] atoms and LaC〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. [La] atoms adsorb on the surface of Al〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Ti to form the new rare earth compounds Ti〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉20〈/sub〉La.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Changmeng Huan, Xinyue Zhao, Xiudi Xiao, Yuan Lu, Shuai Qi, Yongjun Zhan, Lingzhi Zhang, Gang Xu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, the V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticles (NPs) with ultrathin carbon shells were synthesized by a facile solvothermal process. The V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 NPs were about 30 nm and contained a carbon shell of about 2 nm thick. The V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 NPs were homogeneously dispersed and loosely packed. When used as anode material, the V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 core-shell NPs showed a reversible capacity up to 525 mA h g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 200 mA g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 over 200 cycles with good cycle stability and rate capability. The excellent electrochemical performance promotes its practical application in lithium-ion batteries.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Honghong Jin, Guang Sun, Bo Zhang, Na Luo, Yanwei Li, Long Lin, Hari Bala, Jianliang Cao, Zhanying Zhang, Yan Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A novel chain-like nanostructure of Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 was successfully prepared via a facile and reliable oxalate sacrificial template route, in which coralloid cobalt oxalate (CoC〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉·2H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O) precursor was first obtained through a room-temperature precipitation method and then used as sacrificial template to prepare Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 by annealing at 500 °C. Au nanoparticles-decorated Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanochains were also prepared by soaking the CoC〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 precursor in Au〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 solution before the annealing process. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, and N〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 adsorption-desorption. Results indicated that the pure and Au-decorated Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanochains were constructed by several end-to-end connected nanoparticles, and their specific surface areas were 28.42 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/g and 37.39 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/g, respectively. The gas sensing properties of the prepared samples were tested and compared. It was found that after being functionalized with Au nanoparticles, the Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanochains showed an improved TEA sensing performance, such as lower optimal working temperature, higher response, and faster response and recover speed. In addition, the Au/Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 sensor can also give a good linearity in the TEA concentration range from 10 to 200 ppm and considerable stability within 7 weeks, suggesting its potential application for quantitative detection of TEA. The improved gas sensing mechanism of the Au/Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanochain was discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): V.A. Lysenko〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A modified version of the Sb-Sn phase diagram was proposed that includes both Sb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Sn〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 and Sb〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Sn〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 compounds. Based on this modification, phase equilibria in the In-Sb-Sn system were calculated using a thermodynamic modeling approach. Thermodynamic models for the ternary liquid phase and solid solutions (SbSn) and (Sb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Sn〈sub〉3〈/sub〉) were developed. The isopleths 〈em〉x〈/em〉〈sub〉Sn〈/sub〉 = 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, vertical sections 〈em〉x〈/em〉〈sub〉In〈/sub〉/〈em〉x〈/em〉〈sub〉Sb〈/sub〉 = 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, liquidus surface projection, and isothermal section at 473 K were calculated.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongyi Gao, Mengyi Jia, Keyi Dong, Liwen Xing, Xiao Chen, Dandan Jia〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A Sisal-Like TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/Graphene-Like Carbon Sheets (SL-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/GLCSs) composite was fabricated via a facile one-pot self-assembling route at a two-phase interface. The ingenious P123 was introduced to serve a dual function of carbon precursor and structure-directing agent, which first assembled at the water/oil interfaces and subsequently was in situ carbonized to GLCSs. Then the sisal-like TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 grew gradually on the GLCSs along the preferred direction. This process shows several advantages such as simple processes, mild condition, low cost and good combination of SL-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and GLCSs. The combination of SL-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 with GLCSs significantly helps the adsorption of substrates as well as promotes electron-hole pair separation, exhibiting good photocatalytic activity towards degradation of methylene blue (MB) compared to the pristine SL-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and commercial P25. This strategy opens up new perspectives for fabricating novel composites of nanooxides/GLCSs.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhennan Liu, Naiqin Zhao, Chunsheng Shi, Fang He, Enzuo Liu, Chunnian He〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Three-dimensional (3D) carbon networks decorated with Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanoparticles as lightweight and broadband electromagnetic (EM) wave absorber were 〈em〉in-situ〈/em〉 prepared via a simple and large-scale method, combining freeze-drying and high-temperature calcination processes. SEM and TEM results show that 3D carbon network/Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 (3DC/Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) composites have interconnected 3D porous carbon networks with submicrometer-sized macropores, and the Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanoparticles are distributed uniformly on the 3D carbon networks. The EM wave absorption performance of 3DC/Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 can be tuned by changing Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 contents. The 3DC/Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 with about 38.2 wt% Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 exhibits excellent lightweight and broadband EM wave absorption property. The effective absorption bandwidth can reach up 5.95 GHz (11.2–17.15 GHz) at the thickness of 3.0 mm with only 20 wt% filler loading. The minimum RL of −37.8 dB was obtained at 6.95 GHz. The excellent EM wave absorption capability of 3DC/Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 can be ascribed to good impedance matching, strong dielectric loss ability and unique 3D porous structure. This work demonstrates that the 3DC/Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 with light weight, broad absorption bandwidth and large-scale production potential can be a promising absorber for practical application.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925838818339768-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dan Zhou, Li-Ping Xue, Ning Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Transition metal phosphides are promising anode materials for next-generation rechargeable sodium-ion batteries due to the high theoretical capacities. However, the inherent low conductivity and large volume expansion of transition metal phosphides during the repeated sodiation/desodiation process critically hinder their practical applications. Herein, we immobilize Ni〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P nanoparticles robustly in porous carbon sheet networks via the pyrolysis and 〈em〉in-situ〈/em〉 phosphatization of poly(acrylic acid)-Ni(NO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉)〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 gel. The resulted porous network structure, high conductivity, robust chemical combination and space confinement effect of the Ni〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P-carbon composite offer the electrode not only rigid structural stability for volume expansion over long-term cycling, but also large specific capacity and fast Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉/electrons transfer kinetics. As a consequence, the composite delivers a large initial discharge capacity (932 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 50 mA g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), a high rate capability (77 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 3500 mA g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), as well as a significantly enhanced long cycle-life (146 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 after 1500 cycles at 500 mA g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉). The excellent Na-storage performance makes the synthesized Ni〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P-carbon composite a sound anode material for advanced rechargeable SIBs.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yu Jun Yang, Weikun Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This work presents a novel method for the self-assembly of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on nickel foam (NF) and the subsequent electrodeposition of hierarchical Ni-Co double hydroxide (NiCo-DH) nanosheets (NS) on rGO as a supercapacitor electrode. The self-assembly of rGO on NF is achieved by the direct reduction of graphene oxide at 50 °C. NF is not only used as the support of rGO but also the reducing agent for the reduction of GO. As the battery-type electrode material for supercapacitor, NiCo-DH supported on rGO modified NF (Ni-Co DHNS@rGO-NF) displays an ultrahigh areal capacity of 5.820 C cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 at 20 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉, a 100% coulombic efficiency and a 78% capacity retention after 2000 cycles at 100 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉. An hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) is also assembled based on Ni-Co DHNS@rGO-NF as the positive electrode and active carbon (AC) as the negative electrode. The ASC exhibits a prominent energy density of 45.83 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at a high power density of 396.15 W kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the large surface area of the hierarchical NiCo-DH nanosheets array and the synergistic effect between Ni-Co DHNS and rGO.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kodai Maeda, Satoshi Suzuki, Kyosuke Ueda, Tomonori Kitashima, Somesh Kr. Bhattacharya, Ryoji Sahara, Takayuki Narushima〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper reports the first study of the oxidative behavior of Si-containing Ti-6Al-4V alloys in air. The alloys were studied in the temperature range 910–1210 K for a maximum period of 518.4 ks, and their tensile properties at room temperature are reported. The addition of Si decreased the total mass gain during oxidation and enlarged the region in which the mass gain obeyed the parabolic rate law. The oxide scale mainly consisted of rutile and α-Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 phases. The results of the XPS analysis suggest that in rutile, Si exists as both Si〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 ions and SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. First-principles calculations indicated that Si〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 ions stably dissolved into the interstitial sites in rutile, which suppresses oxygen migration through rutile by decreasing the number of oxygen vacancies, thereby inhibiting oxide scale formation. The reaction layer consisting of Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al and α″ phases on Ti-1mass% Si alloy suppressed the dissolution of oxygen into the substrate, i.e., α-case formation. The ratio of mass gain in α-case formation to total mass gain during oxidation at 1010 K and 1110 K ranged from 0.077 to 0.42. The addition of Si to the Ti-6Al-4V alloy was effective in improving both its oxidative resistance and tensile strength.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925838818339653-fx1.jpg" width="292" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Joo Sung Kim, Young Been Kim, Seung Ki Baek, Young Dae Yun, Sung Hyeon Jung, Sung Woon Cho, Cheol Hyoun Ahn, Hyung Koun Cho〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉To maximize the advantages of thin-film-based TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 photoelectrodes for transparent self-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) reactions, we artificially designed a compositionally graded bi-layer compounds consisting of SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. This structure exhibited a vigorous photocatalytic activity, sufficient photovoltage, and long-term stability. A compositionally graded SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 interface (G-SnTiO) for improved charge transport efficiency and sufficient photovoltage was derived by a solution process using simultaneous sintering after sol-gel coating the SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 layers; the structure was verified by various analysis methods, such as transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The high performance from the G-SnTiO structure was attributed to an effective charge separation from the formation of a heterostructure interface with reduced defects, resulting in a sufficient photovoltage for self-driving. To construct self-driven and sustainable overall cells without an external potential and considerable reduction in transparency, two-electrode PEC cells with a G-SnTiO photoanode and Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O photocathode were fabricated with a regular hexahedron shape for a color degradation test of methylene-blue-incorporated electrolytes, and exhibited enhanced purification speed and robust durability.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925838818339379-fx1.jpg" width="335" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Usama Bin Humayoun, Seok Bin Kwon, Syed Kamran Sami, Dae-Ho Yoon〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Among various red phosphors, Mn〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 activated fluoride hosts have received much attention due to their blue excitability and intense red emission. In this study we report a novel (NH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉)〈sub〉3〈/sub〉AlF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉:Mn〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 phosphor, synthesized through a facile synthesis process avoiding high quantities of highly toxic HF acid. The synthesized host exhibit cubic structure in F-4 3m space group, with plenty of [AlF〈sub〉6〈/sub〉]〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 octahedral sites. When activated with Mn〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 the crystal structure is retained and the material exhibits characteristic excitation bands with maximum around 469 nm and intense red emission around 631 nm. Furthermore, the thermal gravimetric analysis revealed the stability of composition up to 250 °C. The phosphor however exhibits high sensitivity to increased temperature and showed sharp quenching of luminescence at elevated temperatures.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 776〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rui Du, Du Yuan, Fei Li, Dongcheng Zhang, Shusen Wu, Shulin Lü〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study intends to offer a depth understanding on controlling the morphology of eutectic Mg〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Si by adding in-situ TiB〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 particles into 10 〈em〉wt〈/em〉% Mg〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Si/Al composite. The evolution of the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Si/Al composites with different TiB〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 particles addition from 1 〈em〉wt〈/em〉% to 5 〈em〉wt〈/em〉% is investigated and the mechanism is also discussed. The results show that coarse eutectic Mg〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Si phase can be refined and modified with the addition of TiB〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 particles, and the lattice coherence between them is also confirmed. Besides, the addition of TiB〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 particles can greatly enhance multiple mechanical properties of composites at the same time. With 5% TiB〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 particles addition, the modulus, yield strength and elongation of composites are improved 11%, 59% and 141% respectively compared with Mg〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Si/Al composites. Moreover, different addition of TiB〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 particles changes gradually the fracture behavior of composites from brittle fracture to quasi-cleavage fracture, and finally to entirely ductile behavior.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Qian Meng, Jing Gao, Hongwen Zhu, Han He, Zhi Lu, Minhua Hong, Hu Zhou〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Dermal fibroblast is one of the major constitutive cells of skin and plays a central role in skin senescence. The replicative senescence of fibroblasts may cause skin aging, bad wound healing, skin diseases and even cancer. In this study, a label-free quantitative proteomic approach was employed to analyzing the serial passaged human skin fibroblast (CCD-1079Sk) cells, resulting in 3371 proteins identified. Of which, 280 proteins were significantly changed in early passage (6 passages, P6), middle passage (12 passages, P12) and late passage (21 passages, P21), with a time-dependent decrease or increase tendency. Bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that the chromosome condensin complex, including structural maintenance of chromosomes protein 2 (SMC2) and structural maintenance of chromosomes protein 4 (SMC4), were down-regulated in the serially passaged fibroblast cells. The qRT-PCR and Western Blot experiments confirmed that the expression of these two proteins were significantly down-regulated in a time-dependent manner in the subculture of human skin fibroblasts (HSFb cells). In summary, we used serially passaged human skin fibroblast cells coupled with quantitative proteomic approach to profile the protein expression pattern in the temporal progress of replicative senescence in HSFb cells and revealed that the down-regulation of the chromosome condensin complex subunits, such as SMC2 and SMC4, may play an important role in the fibroblast senescence.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hee-Jung Lee, Yeondong Cho, Hyeon Jeong Kang, Hanul Choi, Kang Rok Han, Chom Kyu Chong, Young Bong Kim〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus that has recently emerged globally, poses a major threat to public health. To control this emerging disease, accurate diagnostics are required for monitoring current ZIKV outbreaks. Owing to the high nucleotide sequence similarity and cross-reactivity of ZIKV with other members of the Flaviviridae family, discrimination from other flavivirus infections is often difficult in endemic areas. ZIKV NS1 induces major virus-specific antibodies and is therefore utilized as a serological marker for ZIKV diagnosis. To identify ZIKV specific epitopes for clinical application, 33 NS1 peptides that are 15–30 amino acid in length covering whole NS1 were synthesized and analyzed linear B-cell epitopes with 38 human serum samples (20 ZIKV-positive and 18 ZIKV-negative). As a result of screening, eight epitope regions were identified. In particular, the Z8 and Z14 peptides located in the β-ladder surface region showed higher levels of binding activity in ZIKV-positive sera without cross-reactivity to other flaviviruses. These identified sensitive and specific epitopes provide a tool for design of diagnostics and structure-based vaccine antigens for ZIKV infection.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Emily J. Onufer, Shirli Tay, Lauren K. Barron, Cathleen M. Courtney, Brad W. Warner, Jun Guo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a major regulator of cell growth and proliferation through fuel sensing. Systemic inhibition of mTOR as well as manipulation of its downstream products prevent diet-induced obesity. The purpose of this study was to determine the consequences of intestine-targeted mTORC1 inhibition. To attenuate intestinal mTORC1 activity, 〈em〉Villin-Cre〈/em〉〈sup〉〈em〉ER〈/em〉〈/sup〉 mice were crossed with 〈em〉Raptor〈/em〉〈sup〉〈em〉flox/flox〈/em〉〈/sup〉 mice, creating an intestinal-specific Raptor null line (〈em〉i-Raptor −/−〈/em〉). Mice were fed a high fat diet (HFD) and compositional changes as well as food intake levels were assessed. Over a five-week time course, i-Raptor −/− mice consistently gained less body weight on a HFD compared to wildtype (WT) mice secondary to significantly reduced food intake. Importantly, the i-Raptor −/− mice did not appear to be malnourished, demonstrated by their preservation of lean body mass. i-Raptor −/− mice also maintained a normal metabolic profile without significant changes in triglyceride or fasting glucose levels. Further investigation revealed that GDF-15 mRNA expression was significantly enhanced in i-Raptor −/− enterocytes when refed with HFD after overnight starvation. In summary, our study establishes that loss of intestinal specific-mTORC1 is protective of the development of diet-induced obesity by reducing food intake without altering the metabolic profile.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 1 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of the Franklin Institute〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yang Wang, Jing Yao, Guanrong Chen〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉An evolving super-network model with inter-vehicle communications (IVC) is established in this paper, which consists of two layers: the traffic network and the communication network. The model incorporates key parameters of wireless communication devices (characterized by their transmission ranges and bandwidths), market penetration rate and vehicle distribution. The impacts of these parameters on the topological structure of the model are revealed and verified via simulations using a modified car-following model with inter-vehicle communications. Finally, some guidelines are presented for adapting the topological organization of the communication network to the environment by tuning the key parameters.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 507〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Suresh Sundaram, Xin Li, Saiful Alam, Taha Ayari, Yacine Halfaya, Gilles Patriarche, Paul L. Voss, Jean Paul Salvestrini, Abdallah Ougazzaden〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We report wafer-scale growth and mechanical exfoliation of 20 periodAl〈sub〉0.58〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉0.42〈/sub〉N/Al〈sub〉0.37〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉0.63〈/sub〉N multiple quantum wells (MQWs) on h-BN buffered templates and compare them to control samples of the same structure on AlN templates. X-ray diffraction measurements of the MQW structure on h-BN clearly featured satellite peaks up to third order in the 2θ−ω scans indicating good MQW periodicity. Detailed transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis show good heterointerface quality in the structure and large V-pits on the surface. Depth resolved cathodoluminescence of the MQWs on h-BN revealed a UV emission peak at 299 nm and a sharp shoulder at 292 nm. We also report lift-off and transfer of the MQW on the h-BN structure and have investigated post-transfer optical emission, which demonstrates good preservation of optical emission characteristics. Together these results show the suitability of h-BN buffers for the realization of free-standing or flexible optical devices emitting in the deep UV region.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 507〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Peter T. Dickens, Drew T. Haven, Stephan Friedrich, Kelvin G. Lynn〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Co-doping with divalent elements is known to improve the light yield and decay times of some cerium-activated scintillators, despite the stabilization of tetravalent Ce〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉, previously believed to be non-luminescent, from the Ce〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 state. Ce〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 stabilization is a charge compensation mechanism which results from divalent ion substitution of a 3 + site. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, which remain poorly understood, we have grown three Ce,Ca:YAG crystals with different amounts of calcium co-dopants by the Czochralski method and characterized their scintillation and defect properties. Calcium co-doping reduces the decay times and stabilizes the formation of Ce〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 as expected. Interestingly, X-ray fluorescence analysis reveals a decreased concentration of cerium within the YAG crystal for the sample doped with high levels of Ca, which could contribute to the observation that scintillator properties are improved only for low levels of Ca co-doping. Additionally, positron annihilation spectroscopy reveals an increase in the concentration of vacancies with increasing Ca concentration, while thermoluminescence is observed to show no detectable signal. Furthermore, room temperature photoluminescence of the Ce 4f to 5d〈sup〉1〈/sup〉 transition demonstrates decreased emission with increasing Ca co-doping. These data suggest that Ca co-doping decreases the decay time by creating defects with non-radiative decay pathways.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Magdalena Broda, Carmen-Mihaela Popescu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Wood has been extensively used as a material for different applications over the years, therefore the understanding of different degradation processes in various environments is of great importance. In this study, the infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and chemometric methods were used to evaluate and compare the structure of archaeological and artificially degraded oak wood. The results clearly show that modifications in the structure of archaeological wood are related to the position of the material in the log (sapwood and heartwood), thus the extent of wood degradation. To identify the possible factors influencing these effects, the control wood samples were exposed to artificial white rot biodegradation with 〈em〉Coriolus〈/em〉 (〈em〉Trametes〈/em〉) 〈em〉versicolor〈/em〉 and to alkali treatment (with NaOH solution). Due to the structural similarities between biodegraded wood and control or archaeological samples, this type of decay is likely to occur during natural ageing along with degradation produced by other environmental factors. Further, no real similarity was identified between the alkali treated wood and archaeological samples, indicating that such degradation does not affect wood under natural conditions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309909-ga1.jpg" width="295" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Physica B: Condensed Matter, Volume 553〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Numan Şarlı, Gökçen Dikici Yıldız, Yasin Göktürk Yıldız, Nermin Kahveci Yağcı〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The effects of the Austenite (A), twinned Martensite (TM) and detwinned Martensite (DTM) structural transformations on the ferromagnetic properties are investegated by means of the effective field theory developed by Kaneyoshi. We find that the critical Curie temperature of the A, TM and DTM is obtained as T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈sup〉A〈/sup〉 〈 T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈sup〉D〈/sup〉™〈sup〉 〈/sup〉〈 T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉™ for H = 0. Thermal magnetization loops are obtained for H≠0. The area of the thermal magnetization loops of the A-TM is wider than those of the A-DTM. Paramagnetic Austenite has a phase transition from paramagnetic (PM) phase to ferromagnetic (FM) phase at T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉™ and T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈sup〉D〈/sup〉™. The temperature of the As (Austenite start), TM〈sub〉f〈/sub〉 (twinned Martensite finish) and DTM〈sub〉f〈/sub〉 (detwinned Martensite finish) increase as the external magnetic field (H) increases. The magnetizations of the A, TM and DTM are the same at low temperature (T 〈 A〈sub〉s〈/sub〉). The coercive field points are obtained as H〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈sup〉A〈/sup〉 〈 H〈sub〉c〈/sub〉〈sup〉D〈/sup〉™〈sup〉 〈/sup〉〈 H〈sub〉c〈/sub〉™. The shearing angle plays very important role in the structural transformations and their ferromagnetic properties, especially in TM.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yu.O. Zagorodniy, V. Chlan, H. Štěpánková, Y. Fomichov, J. Pejchal, V.V. Laguta, M. Nikl〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this study, the distributions of aluminum and gallium atoms over the tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the garnet structure were investigated in mixed Lu〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉5-x〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉x〈/sub〉O〈sub〉12〈/sub〉 crystals by using 〈sup〉27〈/sup〉Al and 〈sup〉71〈/sup〉Ga magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and single crystal 〈sup〉71〈/sup〉Ga NMR. The experimental study was supported by theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) in order to predict the trends in terms of the substitutions of Al by Ga in the mixed garnets. Both the experimental and theoretical results indicated the non-uniform distribution of Al and Ga over the tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the garnet structure, with a strong preference for Ga occupying the tetrahedral sites in the garnet structure at all Ga concentrations, despite Ga having a larger ionic radius than Al and tetrahedrons being smaller than octahedrons. The Ga occupation preference is primarily related to the involvement of Ga 3d〈sup〉10〈/sup〉 electrons in interactions, and due to the different nature of the chemical bonds formed by Al and Ga when located in the tetrahedral and octahedral environments. The quadrupole coupling constants and chemical shift parameters for Al and Ga nuclei were determined for all of the compounds considered, and the electric field gradients at the Al and Ga nuclei were calculated in the DFT framework. Our results also showed that the structural relaxation after Al substitution with the larger Ga mainly occurs via deformation of the octahedrons, while leaving the tetrahedrons relatively undeformed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): P. Sakthivel, R. Murugan, S. Asaithambi, M. Karuppaiah, S.Rajendran, G. Ravi〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this study, CdO thin films were deposited on glass substrates by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering with different deposition times. The effects of the deposition time on the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of CdO thin films were investigated. The thicknesses of the CdO thin films ranged from 310 to 960 nm. The X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrated that the CdO thin films were polycrystalline with cubic structures. The texture coefficients were greater than unity, thereby indicating the high texturing of the films. The morphological properties of the CdO thin films were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The film deposited for 30 min was highly uniform with a nanopyramidal structure. The AFM images showed that the roughness of the films increased with the deposition time. Compositional information obtained by energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the presence of cadmium (Cd〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉) and oxygen (O〈sup〉2−〈/sup〉) on the deposited films. Optical analyses showed that the films exhibited electronic transitions from the direct transition type and the optical energy gap value ranged from 2.2 to 2.4 eV. The overall transmittance of the deposited films was between 60% and 98% in the visible region. The photoluminescence spectra contained two strong emission peaks at 484 and 519 nm. The electrical properties of the films were determined using a Hall Effect instrument. The maximum mobility (158.5 cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 Vs〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) was observed after a deposition time of 30 min.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Icarus, Volume 321〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wenxiang Xia, Xianmin Wang, Siyuan Zhao, Huazhong Jin, Xiaoshuang Chen, Meiping Yang, Xingyu Wu, Chudi Hu, Yuzhuo Zhang, Yiwei Shi, Xuan Gao, Xing Wang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The major oxides (SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, CaO, FeO, MgO, and TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) and Mg# are critical for revealing the petrological characteristics of the Moon and for testing models of lunar formation and geologic evolution. There are few high-spatial-resolution (〈250 m/pixel) abundance maps for all the six major oxides and Mg# across the Moon. Furthermore, previous studies primarily employed the traditional regression methods to derive oxide contents from optical images, which may influence the inversion accuracies of the lunar chemical compositions. This paper reports the abundance maps of all the six major oxides and Mg# with a relatively high spatial resolution of ∼200 m/pixel and compared them with the ones in the previous works. Neural networks algorithms along with the data from the Interference Imaging Spectrometer (IIM) onboard Chang'E-1 were employed in this paper to derive the abundances of the six oxides. Compared with the traditional linear regression models, the neural networks method suggested in this work is hopeful to better depict the complex nonlinear relations between the spectra and the chemical components, so it may improve the inversion performance of the lunar chemistry.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Icarus, Volume 321〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Vladimir A. Krasnopolsky〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Recent SPICAM IR solar occultations reveal significant abundances of water vapor up to ≈80 km near Mars perihelion. These abundances are stimulated by dust that heats the atmosphere and precludes condensation of water. This phenomenon correlates with detections of high escape of hydrogen near perihelion using the H Lyman-alpha in the SPICAM UV and HST observations. Here we present a self-consistent photochemical model of the martian neutral and ion composition at 80–300 km that accounts for variations of the atmospheric composition with solar activity and water abundance at 80 km. The model involves vertical transport by eddy, molecular, and ambipolar diffusion and both thermal and nonthermal escape of light species. The model predicts rather stable hydrogen escape of ≈1.9 × 10〈sup〉8〈/sup〉 cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 s〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 250 km during the most of the martian year beyond the perihelion period at 〈em〉L〈/em〉〈sub〉S〈/sub〉 = 200–330°. The reaction between H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 remains here the key process that determines the hydrogen escape. Therefore the HST observation of D and the FUSE observation of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 at 〈em〉L〈/em〉〈sub〉S〈/sub〉 = 68 and 160°, respectively, do not need revision. Appearance of water in the thermosphere during the perihelion period results in significant increase in production of hydrogen by photolysis of water and reactions of its ions. Photolysis of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O is the most effective at 160–180 nm and weakly depends on solar activity. Reactions of water ions start chiefly by charge exchange between CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 and H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O and end by recombination of H〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sup〉+〈/sup〉. Both H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O photolysis and its ion reactions proceed near 100 km, and just a small part of the hydrogen production can escape. The calculated hydrogen escape at 250 km may be approximated by Φ〈sub〉H〈/sub〉 (cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 s〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) = 1.6 × 10〈sup〉8〈/sup〉〈sup〉 〈/sup〉 + 1.4 × 10〈sup〉7〈/sup〉〈em〉f〈/em〉〈sub〉H2O〈/sub〉 (ppm). Here 〈em〉f〈/em〉〈sub〉H2O〈/sub〉 is the H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O mixing ratio at 80 km that is reduced to 150 km by a factor of 5 by the photolysis and ion reactions. Therefore the observed high hydrogen escape up to 10〈sup〉9〈/sup〉 cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 s〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 requires the dayside-mean water abundances up to 60 ppm at 80 km that are within those observed by the SPICAM IR solar occultations. The significant H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O abundances do not deplete densities of HCO〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 and are compatible with the MAVEN/NGIMS ion composition. The H Lyman-alpha observations reflect mostly the dayside-mean photochemistry, and our one-dimensional model may adequately respond to the problem.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Applied Surface Science, Volumes 467–468〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yi Zhong, Zetian He, Daimei Chen, Ding Hao, Weichang Hao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The fluorine substitution on Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉MoO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 (F-Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉MoO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉) can be easily synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Based on the XRD result, it could be speculated that fluorine ion can substitute oxygen ion in the crystal lattice of Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉MoO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉. The photodegradation activity of F-Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉MoO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 almost is 1.9 times as high as the single Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉MoO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 for degradation of RhB and 1.7 times for decomposition of 2, 4-CDP under the visible light. The enhanced catalytic activity of F-Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉MoO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 should be attributed to the wider band gap, the more positive VB potential and the higher concentration of OH〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉 radicals due to the F doping. Additionally, F doping formed the donor state below the Fermi energy, which can trap the electrons and increase the efficiency of charge separation remarkably.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0169433218329647-ga1.jpg" width="387" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Applied Surface Science, Volumes 467–468〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hamad Ullah, Yu Qu, Tiankun Wang, Yongkai Wang, Zhimin Jing, Zhongyue Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Artificially engineered chiral plasmonic nanostructures (CPNs) have attracted considerable attention and have been widely studied in the recent decades because of their distinguishing optical properties. Researchers have focused on noble metal nanostructures, because of their strong chiroptical response in visible and near-infrared regions. In this study, a system of a nanorod coupled with a nanosurface, which were both made of silver, was proposed. Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) method was used to fabricate CPNs. The fabricated CPNs generated a strong circular dichroism (CD) signal under visible and near-infrared light illumination. A high peak was observed at approximately 600 nm, and an increasing trend of the CD intensity with a redshift was confirmed when the area of the nanosurface was increased. The generated CD could be tuned easily by changing the area of the nanosurface with an active control of the vapor deposition angle (glancing angle of the substrate) in the GLAD method.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0169433218329775-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Applied Surface Science, Volumes 467–468〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lida Chen, Enzhou Liu, Feng Teng, Tianxi Zhang, Juan Feng, Yumeng Kou, Qian Sun, Jun Fan, Xiaoyun Hu, Hui Miao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Two-dimensional (2D) metal dichalcogenides have attracted considerable attention in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting because of their particular layer structure and strong interaction with light. Herein, in this article, we report a facile chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, via low boiling point SnCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉·5H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O and S powders as precursors. Light trapping nanosheets arrays SnS〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 (SnS〈sub〉2〈/sub〉⊥FTO) have been deposited on conductive substrate. By optimizing the preparation conditions, included deposition temperature, flow rate of carrier gas and the distance between the Sn source and growth substrate. Moreover, the key factors to affect the growth of SnS〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 in CVD process have been investigated in detail. In PEC measurements, the as-synthesized thin film of 450 °C, 50 sccm, 11 cm shows the highest photocurrent density of up to 3.68 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 at 0.5 V 〈em〉vs.〈/em〉 SCE under the sunlight and high IPCE of up to 33.11% at 365 nm. The values much higher than conventional photoelectrode by spin-coating (SnS〈sub〉2〈/sub〉//FTO), which achieved efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting under the sunlight.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Patryk Wąsik, Annela M. Seddon, Hua Wu, Wuge H. Briscoe〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We present a box counting fractal dimension (FD) analysis of the dendritic patterns obtained under conditions far from equilibrium 〈em〉via〈/em〉 rapid evaporation of a sessile drop containing 〈em〉reactive〈/em〉 ZnO nanoparticles. These dendrites were manifestations of solidified Bénard-Marangoni (BM) instability convection cells, and we previously noted that their complex hierarchical morphologies were superficially analogous to the foliage of red algae, Spanish dagger, or spider plant. The fractal dimension of the Bénard-Marangoni dendrites was found to vary in the range of 1.77–1.89 and also depend on the size of the Bénard-Marangoni cells. These fractal dimension results were correlated with the morphological details of the Bénard-Marangoni cells and ZnO particle characteristics, providing a quantitative description of such complex surface patterns emerging from the dynamic process of the Bénard-Marangoni instability.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312773-ga1.jpg" width="498" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bin Fang, Xingchang Lu, Junyi Hu, Geng Zhang, Xinsheng Zheng, Limin He, Jianbo Cao, Jiangjiang Gu, Feifei Cao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Emerging carbon dots (CDs) are widely used as fluorescent probes in biological and environmental fields, nevertheless, the control of CDs based on different detection mechanisms is rarely reported. In this paper, green luminescent CDs (G-CDs) were prepared by a facile hydrothermal treatment of benzoxazine monomers (BZM). The obtained G-CDs showed pH dependent photoluminescence, which could be designed as fluorescence turn-on and turn-off sensors. The G-CDs exhibited weak photoluminescence at pH = 7.0 and could be turned on by Zn(II) selectively with the limitation of 0.32 μM in the concentration range from 1 to 100 μM. When pH = 10.0, Cr(VI) could quench the strong fluorescence of G-CDs efficiently, and the limit of detection was 0.99 μM with a linear range of 1–50 μM. Furthermore, the fluorescence turn-on and turn-off performance of G-CDs was attributed to the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) of Zn(II) and the inner filter effect (IFE) of Cr(VI), respectively. The excellent probes were successfully applied for the detection of Zn(II) in biological system and Cr(VI) in environment.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312839-ga1.jpg" width="463" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Radiation Measurements, Volume 119〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chen Wang, Shi-Lun Guo, Zhi-Yuan Chang, Guo-Rong Liu, Yong-Gang Zhao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Two parameter approach –a new technique has been devised and tested to identify and distinguish Pu–bearing particles from U-bearing particles. This technique can be used to select rare and microscopic Pu-bearing particles from environmental samples, such as in soil, water, air (aerosol) and swipe samples from the wall of buildings and surfaces of machines in nuclear factories. Some amount of Pu and U standard reference materials were respectively added to cellulose nitrate (CN) solution and dropped some quantity of the solution on mica plates and dried to from CN sheets. CR-39 track detectors were used to record tracks of α particles emitted from the Pu or U particles in CN sheets. After etching of CR-39 plates, α track stars were developed and can be seen under optical microscope. Tracks shapes of α particles in the stars were investigated. We found that at certain interval of etching time, the tip part of α tracks of Pu was very sharp, but the tip part of α tracks of U was blunted with spherical tips. The ratio Rt/Ro of the diameter (Rt) of tip point to the diameter (Ro) of the round track in center area of star is a superior parameter to identify Pu from U particles. The Rt/Ro measurements should be carried at a certain distance from the center point. The two parameter approach has been using in nuclear safeguards and nuclear forensics to analyze isotopic compositions and age of Pu samples.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 2 May 2017〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Tectonophysics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): T. Rolf, F.A. Capitanio, P.J. Tackley〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Earth's continents drift in response to the force balance between mantle flow and plate tectonics and actively change the plate-mantle coupling. Thus, the patterns of continental drift provide relevant information on the coupled evolution of surface tectonics, mantle structure and dynamics. Here, we investigate rheological controls on such evolutions and use surface tectonic patterns to derive inferences on mantle viscosity structure on Earth. We employ global spherical models of mantle convection featuring self-consistently generated plate tectonics, which are used to compute time-evolving continental configurations for different mantle and lithosphere structures. Our results highlight the importance of the wavelength of mantle flow for continental configuration evolution. Too strong short-wavelength components complicate the aggregation of large continental clusters, while too stable very long wavelength flow tends to enforce compact supercontinent clustering without reasonable dispersal frequencies. Earth-like continental drift with episodic collisions and dispersals thus requires a viscosity structure that supports long-wavelength flow, but also allows for shorter-wavelength contributions. Such a criterion alone is a rather permissive constraint on internal structure, but it can be improved by considering continental-oceanic plate speed ratios and the toroidal-poloidal partitioning of plate motions. The best approximation of Earth's recent tectonic evolution is then achieved with an intermediate lithospheric yield stress and a viscosity structure in which oceanic plates are ∼ 10〈sup〉3〈/sup〉 × more viscous than the characteristic upper mantle, which itself is ∼ 100–200 × less viscous than the lowermost mantle. Such a structure causes continents to move on average ∼ (2.2 ± 1.0) × slower than oceanic plates, consistent with estimates from present-day and from plate reconstructions. This does not require a low viscosity asthenosphere globally extending below continental roots. However, this plate speed ratio may undergo strong fluctuations on timescales of several 100 Myr that may be linked to periods of enhanced continental collisions and are not yet captured by current tectonic reconstructions.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of the Franklin Institute, Volume 356, Issue 1〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Gang Wang, Mohammed Chadli, Haihong Chen, Zhijin Zhou〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper presents a novel event-triggered 〈em〉H〈/em〉〈sub〉∞〈/sub〉 static output-feedback control for active vehicle suspension systems with network-induced delays. The proposed control schema introduces an event-triggering mechanism in the suspension system such that the communication resources can be significantly saved. By applying some improved slack inequalities and an augmented Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional (LKF), a new design condition expressed in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) is developed to derive the desired event-triggered controller. The obtained algorithm is then employed to solve the static output-feedback control gain. Compared with the traditional sampled-data 〈em〉H〈/em〉〈sub〉∞〈/sub〉 control scheme, the proposed controller is able to provide an enhanced disturbance attenuation level while saving the control cost. Finally, comparative simulation results are provided to show the performance of the proposed event-triggered controller.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Prathap Reddy Patlolla, Nakshi Desai, Sharad Gupta, Bhaskar Datta〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The interaction of fluorescent dyes with serum proteins has garnered significant interest owing to potential for non-covalent labeling and imaging applications. In this work, dimeric benzothiazole-based trimethine cyanine dyes are synthesized and their interaction with bovine serum albumin studied. The dimeric cyanine dyes mainly exist as H-dimers and H-aggregates in aqueous solution. A combination of absorbance, fluorescence, circular dichroism spectroscopy and atomic force and fluorescence microscopy indicate the formation of dye-BSA complexes. Binding of one of the dimeric dyes on BSA with a K〈sub〉a〈/sub〉 of 1.49 × 10〈sup〉5〈/sup〉 M〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 results in disruption of dye self-aggregates and unfolding of the dyes into the monomeric or open conformation. Fluorescence enhancement experienced by the dimeric dyes upon interaction with BSA is superior to that registered by Thioflavin T. Surfactant SDS has been used to further tune the self-aggregation of the dimeric dye resulting in a 200-fold fluorescence enhancement in presence of BSA. Interaction of a dimeric dye with BSA under conditions favoring protein aggregation is found to result in faster dye binding and the resulting fluorescence enhancement is easily visualized by fluorescence microscopy. The interaction of a dimeric cyanine dye aggregate with BSA is promising for non-covalent labeling applications in sharp contrast to the monomeric dye counterpart.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309818-ga1.jpg" width="322" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chinmayi R. Kaundinya, Handanahal S. Savithri, K.Krishnamurthy Rao, Petety V. Balaji〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈em〉Bacillus subtilis〈/em〉 168 EpsM (UniProt id P71063) has been electronically annotated as putative acetyltransferase in the UniProt database. The gene 〈em〉epsM〈/em〉 was cloned and overexpressed in 〈em〉E. coli〈/em〉 with an N-terminal GST tag. The purified fusion protein was shown by absorption spectroscopy, autoradiography and reverse phase HPLC to catalyse the conversion of UDP-2,4,6-trideoxy-2-acetamido-4-amino glucose to UDP-2,4,6-trideoxy-2,4-diacetamido glucose, commonly known as N,N′-diacetylbacillosamine, using acetyl coenzyme A as the donor substrate. His146 was shown by site-directed mutagenesis to be essential for acetyltransferase activity. It is hypothesized that EpsC (NAD〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 dependent UDP GlcNAc 4,6-dehydratase), EpsN (PLP dependent aminotransferase) and EpsM, all of which are part of the 〈em〉eps〈/em〉 operon, are involved in the biosynthesis of N,N′-diacetylbacillosamine.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dahu Li, Houjiu Wu, Huating Dou, Li Guo, Wei Huang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Obesity is associated with the changes in gut microbiota. The aim of present study was to investigate the effects of sweet orange essential oil (SOEO) microcapsules on body weight and gut microbiota in obese rats induced by high-fat diet. By analyzing the body weight, fat rate and the sequence of cloned microbial small-subunit ribosomal RNA genes (16S rDNA) in rats fecal samples, we found that SOEO microcapsules decreased the body weight and increased the relative abundance of 〈em〉Bifidobacterium〈/em〉 (genus-level) in gut microbiota. The analysis of endotoxin content proved that SOEO microcapsules protected gut barrier and decreased gut endotoxin levels by increasing the content of 〈em〉Bifidobacterium〈/em〉, then ameliorated low-grade inflammation, achieving the goal of losing weight. This might be the mechanism of SOEO microcapsules to lose body weight and provided a novel anti-obesity dietary supplement.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this study, we investigated the effects of sweet orange essential oil (SOEO) microcapsules on body weight and gut microbiota in obese rats induced by high-fat diet. We found that SOEO microcapsules reduced the body weight and increased the relative abundance of 〈em〉Bifidobacterium〈/em〉 (genus-level) in gut microbiota. The analysis of endotoxin content proved that SOEO microcapsules protected gut barrier and decreased gut endotoxin levels by increasing the content of 〈em〉Bifidobacteria〈/em〉, then ameliorated low-grade inflammation, achieving the goal of losing weight. This indicates that changing gut microbiota provides a novel way to lose weight.〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0006291X18321818-fx1.jpg" width="289" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 17 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 506, Issue 1〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wenfeng Shangguan, Xue Liang, Wen Shi, Tong Liu, Manman Wang, Guangping Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as novel molecules of interest in gene regulation as other noncoding RNAs, and participating in the process of many diseases. However, the expression and functions of circRNAs in Rapid atrial pacing (RAP) dog atrial tissue still unknown. 12 canines were randomly assigned to control and pacing group. RAP at 500 beats per minute was maintained 14 days in the pacing group. The expression characterization of circRNAs were revealed by high-throughput sequencing. We totally predicted 15,990 circRNAs in dog atrial tissues. Moreover, we found 146 differentially expressed circRNAs between control and RAP dogs. Five circRNAs were selected for subsequent RT-PCR validation, and four circRNAs confirmed with the high throughput sequencing analysis. GO analysis showed that the differentially expressed circRNAs might involve in the process of “structural constituent of cytoskeleton, ion channel activity”. We explored the circRNA-miRNA interaction network, and found extensive interaction among differentially expressed circRNAs and AF related miRNAs and mRNAs. Our work firstly identified the characterization of circRNAs in the dog atrial, and revealed the differentially expressed circRNAs in the RAP dog, this might lay a solid foundation on the function of circRNA in the mechanisms of AF.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jian-Zhong Zhang, Dan Chen, Li-Quan Lv, Zheng Xu, Yi-Ming Li, Jun-Yu Wang, Kai-Wei Han, Ming-Kun Yu, Cheng-Guang Huang, Li-Jun Hou〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉microRNAs (miRNAs) control several processes known to be involved in progression of aneurysm. Here, intracranial aneurysms (IAs) were surgically induced in Sprague–Dawley rats, and we found that miR-448-3p was downregulated and KLF5 was upregulated in IA rats. We identified 〈em〉Klf5〈/em〉 as a direct target of miR-448-3p in smooth muscle cells (SMCs). In addition, aneurysms size and the lumen area of the aneurysms were smaller 4 weeks after IA induction in the miR-448-3p–treated group. miR-448-3p treatment protected the wall thickness ratio and suppressed macrophage infiltration after IA induction. IAs caused a significant increase in KLF5 expression and were alleviated by miR-448-3p. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory effect of miR-448-3p was verified in lipopolysaccharide -stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. The expression levels of KLF5, MMP2, and MMP9 levels were elevated by LPS, and were attenuated by miR-448-3p. These data suggest that miR-448-3p plays the inhibitory role in IA progression, indicating that miR-448-3p overexpression is crucial for preventing the development of IA through downregulation of macrophage-mediated inflammation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 505, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shannon L. Nowotarski, Robert P. Feehan, Christopher Presloid, Lisa M. Shantz〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States. Ultraviolet-B (UVB) irradiation is the primary carcinogen responsible for stimulating NMSC development. Ornithine Decarboxylase (ODC), the first rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of polyamines, is upregulated in response to a variety of proliferation stimuli, including UVB exposure. Our previous studies have demonstrated regulation of ODC synthesis by the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) in cells transformed by oncogenic Ras. The goal of these studies was to better understand the link between mTORC1 and ODC in nontransformed cells treated with UVB. We show that the ablation of mTORC1 activity by conditional knockout of its essential component Raptor led to decreased levels of ODC protein both before and after exposure to 10 mJ/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 UVB. Moreover, ODC mRNA was destabilized in the absence of Raptor, suggesting post-transcriptional regulation. We have previously shown that the ODC transcript is stabilized by the RNA binding protein (RBP) human antigen R (HuR), and the intracellular localization of HuR responds to changes in mTORC1 activity. To expand these studies, we investigated whether HuR functions to regulate ODC mRNA stability after UVB exposure. Our results show an increased localization of HuR to the cytoplasm after UVB exposure in wild-type cells compared to Raptor knockout cells, and this is accompanied by greater association of HuR with the ODC transcript. These data suggest that the localization of HuR in response to UVB is influenced, at least in part, by mTORC1 and that HuR can bind to and stabilize ODC mRNA after UVB exposure in an mTORC1-dependent manner.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 31 October 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Doan Quang Tri, Nguyen Thi Mai Linh, Tran Hong Thai, Jaya Kandasamy〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A few 1D and 2D models are used to simulate and calculate the water level and water quality regarding four state variable (DO, NH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, NO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, and BOD) observations in the main rivers and coastal estuaries on the Ca Mau peninsula. This study calibrates and validates 1D and 2D models during the dry and flood seasons for 2014 and 2015, as well as assesses water quality in coastal estuaries during the dry and flood season of 2016 by using a 2D model. The calibration and validation results of the hydrodynamic 1D and 2D models show that there is a high degree of conformity regarding the phase and amplitude of water level at observing stations with mean absolute error (MAE) ranges from 0.05 m to 0.37 m. The RMSE–observation standard deviation ratio (RSR) vary from 0.12 to 0.64, and the percent bias (PBIAS) is from −8.9% to 3.2%. Calibration and validation of water quality parameter (DO, NH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, NO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, and BOD〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 concentration) results have a high correlation coefficient during both the dry and flood season of 2014 and 2015. The standards, originating from the National Technical Regulation on Surface Water quality and on Coastal Water Quality, are used to evaluate pollutant concentrations in estuaries in the study area during the dry and flood seasons of 2016. The water quality parameters contain DO (4.6 mg/l–7.9 mg/l) and BOD (4.6 mg/l–10.7 mg/l) concentrations over the National Technical Regulation on Surface and Coastal Water Quality and the A1 limit with DO (〉4 mg/l) and BOD〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 (4 mg/l) on surface water quality for domestic water use in the dry and flood seasons. The calculated results will help managers make better plans for aquaculture and aquatic conservation zones in coastal estuaries in the future.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1474706518301396-fx1.jpg" width="298" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 16 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Chemical Physics Letters, Volume 714〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Steve Scheiner〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Four different Lewis acids that might participate in a tetrel bond with a nucleophile (SEt〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Me〈sup〉+〈/sup〉, NMe〈sub〉4〈/sub〉〈sup〉+〈/sup〉, SMe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, NMe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉) are examined. The NMR chemical shifts of the methyl C and H atoms are calculated as the CH bond lengths are systematically stretched and contracted, in the absence of a base. The C shielding diminishes by roughly 2 ppm for a stretch of 0.01 Å, while that of H drops by only 0.3 ppm. The deshieldings caused purely by the bond length changes are far too small to account for the amounts that are computed when the nucleophile is actually present.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S000926141830900X-ga1.jpg" width="319" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Chemical Physics Letters, Volume 715〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ibon Alkorta, José Elguero, Janet E. Del Bene〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Ab initio MP2/aug′-cc-pVTZ calculations have been performed to examine the oxidation of P(III) to P(V) in reactions involving FCl and Cl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 as the oxidizing agents of PH〈sub〉2〈/sub〉X molecules, for X = F, Cl, H, NC, and CN. Stable P(III) binary complexes and P(V) molecules, and the transition states which connect these minima exist on all (PH〈sub〉2〈/sub〉X + ClF) and (PH〈sub〉2〈/sub〉X + Cl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) potential surfaces. Profiles of binding energies, 〈sup〉31〈/sup〉P chemical shieldings, and EOM-CCSD spin-spin coupling constants J(P-Cl) on these surfaces exhibit similar patterns, with minimum values for transition structures.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Binding energy profiles on (H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉XP + ClF) potential surfaces.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0009261418308984-ga1.jpg" width="277" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 31 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Power Sources, Volume 408〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yilan Wu, Xin Fan, Rohit Ranaganathan Gaddam, Qinglan Zhao, Dongfang Yang, Xiaoming Sun, Chao Wang, X.S. Zhao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Sodium-ion capacitors with unique characteristics such as higher energy density than electrical double-layer capacitors, higher power density than rechargeable batteries, and abundant sodium resources represent current research trend in developing large-scale electrical energy storage technology. One of the key challenges presently facing the development of this technology is the imbalanced kinetics between the sluggish Faradaic sodium insertion in the anode and the fast capacitive ion adsorption on the cathode. Here we demonstrate the sol-gel synthesis of a novel, high-rate, stable composite anode material for sodium-ion capacitors (NICs). The composite consisted of Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix (denoted by m-Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉/C). Sodium-ion capacitors employing the m-Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉/C anode and a commercial activated carbon as the cathode showed an admirable performance, delivering high energy densities in a wide range of power densities (73 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉@250 W kg-1 and 16.8 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉@20 kW kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉). These favourable cell characteristics are attributed to the properties of the m-Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉/C anode: the mesoporous structure that facilitates electron and ion transport, the presence of the niobium carbide interlayer between the Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 nanoparticles and the surrounding graphitic carbon that additionally improves the electron conductivity, and the predominant capacitive charge storage mechanism.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0378775318311881-fx1.jpg" width="302" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 31 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Power Sources, Volume 408〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuyan Zhang, Pei Tian, Kexun Li, Yi Liu, Zhaohui Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A highly active electrocatalyst is synthesized by employing melamine assisted metal-organic framework as the precursor. By pyrolyzing the hybrid at 350–800 °C, the precursor can be easily transferred into abundant iron and nitrogen co-doped carbon skeleton. The microbial fuel cell doped with the above treated sample at 600 °C achieves the maximum power density 2229 ± 10 mW m〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉, 257% and 36.6% higher than that of activated carbon and the control sample. The total resistance decreases by 53.8% from 18.16 Ω (activated carbon) to 8.39 Ω. The reaction process is testified to be four-electron transfer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy prove the coexistence of divalent copper and C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 and the incorporation of nitrogen into the network formed active sites. Thus, the ideal results make the pyrolyzed hybrid at 600 °C a promising catalyst in microbial fuel cell.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Atmospheric Environment, Volume 198〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Min Duan, Andi Li, Yanhong Wu, Zuoping Zhao, Changhui Peng, Thomas H. DeLuca, Shouqin Sun〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Alpine and subalpine ecosystems on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are rich in soil organic carbon and are among the most sensitive regions to climate change, while little is known about the dynamics of soil carbon dioxide (CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) in alpine/subalpine ecosystems except for the grassland on the plateau. In this study, the monthly and inter-annual variations in soil CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emission from a subalpine coniferous forest and a subalpine shrubland ecosystem on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau were investigated from 2012 to 2015 using the opaque steady-state chamber method. Soil CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 flux rate during the growing season ranged from 153.3 to 683.6 mg m〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 in the coniferous forest, being twice of that (76.6–347.3 mg m〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) in the shrubland, due to the elevation-induced differences in soil temperature and water content and the vegetation-induced differences in soil carbon and nitrogen pools. Both ecosystems showed large monthly variations in soil CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 flux rate, while relative to the coniferous forest, the shrubland had a less inter-annual variation in soil CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emission. The two ecosystems had the same temperature sensitivity of soil CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emission, which suggests that they will respond similarly to global warming concerning soil CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 flux rate. The results highlight the importance of soil CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emission in subalpine forest and shrubland ecosystems, which can be helpful to reduce the uncertainty of regional estimates of carbon budget in subalpine regions under global warming.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 506〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jennifer Woods, Tom Winder, Robert S. White, Bryndís Brandsdóttir〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Understanding dikes is vital as they serve both as bodies that build the crust and as conduits that feed eruptions, and must be monitored to evaluate volcanic hazard. During the 2014–15 Bárðarbunga rifting event, Iceland, intense seismicity accompanied the intrusion of a ∼50 km lateral dike which culminated in a 6 month long eruption. We here present relocations of earthquakes induced by the lateral dike intrusion, using cross-correlated, sub-sample relative travel times. The ∼100 m spatial resolution achieved reveals the complexity of the dike propagation pathway and dynamics (jerky, segmented), and allows us to address the precise relationship between the dike and seismicity, with direct implications for hazard monitoring. The spatio-temporal characteristics of the induced seismicity can be directly linked in the first instance to propagation of the tip and opening of the dike, and following this – 〈em〉after dike opening〈/em〉 – indicate a relationship with magma pressure changes (i.e. dike inflation/deflation), followed by a general ‘post-opening’ decay. Seismicity occurs only at the base of the dike, where dike-imposed stresses – combined with the background tectonic stress (from regional extension over 〉200 yr since last rifting) – are sufficient to induce failure of pre-existing weaknesses in the crust, while the greatest opening is at shallower depths. Emplacement oblique to the spreading ridge resulted in left-lateral shear motion along the distal dike section (studied here), and a prevalence of left-lateral shear failure. Fault plane strikes are predominately independent of the orientation of lineations delineated by the hypocenters, indicating that they are controlled by the underlying host rock fabric. This high-resolution study provides unprecedented opportunity for comparison with both geodetic and field (frozen dike) observations, and development and consolidation of analytical and analogue models, with implications for rifting processes and real-time monitoring of magma intrusion.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0012821X18306289-gr001.jpg" width="408" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Geoderma, Volume 337〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongfei Liu, Yang Wu, Zemin Ai, Jiaoyang Zhang, Chao Zhang, Sha Xue, Guobin Liu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉DOM is the most bioavailable organic pool in the soil. The restoration of vegetation on abandoned cropland has a major impact on the concentration and composition of the DOM and thus affects the biodegradability of the soil DOM. Understanding the response of the microbial degradation of the DOM to temperature is important to maintain soil bioavailable organic matter in the field. We conducted a laboratory DOM solution incubation experiment to examine the temporal dynamics of DOM concentrations at temperatures of 4 °C (low), 20 °C (medium), and 35 °C (high) for four types of land uses: sloped cropland, grassland, shrub land, and woodland. Ultraviolet–visible and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to determine the structural complexity of the DOM. The conversion of the sloped cropland to shrub land and woodland significantly increased contents of DOC, DON, and recalcitrant substances in DOM soilution, such as humic-like material and fulvic acid, and stabilised the DOC pool, and reduced the decomposition of the DOC at 20 °C and 35 °C. The conversion of the sloped cropland to woodland dramatically reduced TDN decomposition. The DON loss after 60-day incubation significantly correlated with the initial content of tryptophan-like material. The biodegradability of the DON was higher and more sensitive to temperature than that of the DOC. Rising temperature initially promotes the decomposition of tryptophan-like material, and later promotes the degradation of more recalcitrant substances, such as humic-like material and fulvic acid, which enhanced the decomposition of the DOC and DON. The results suggest that the conversion of sloped cropland to shrubland and woodland not only promoted the accumulation of DOC, TDN, and recalcitrant substances in DOM solution, and decreased their biodegradability but also decreased the temperature sensitivity of the decomposition of the DOC and DON. Therefore, shrubland and woodland were the optimal choices for revegetation in the Loess Plateau of China.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0016706117316403-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 16 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Chemical Physics Letters, Volume 714〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): V.N. Varakin〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The photochemistry in adsorbed molecules is drastically different from that of gaseous ones. Seven channels of KrF laser-induced dissociation of chlorobenzene condensed on silica have been found using mass spectrometry. They include the multiple photon detachment of H and Cl atoms and the opening of the aromatic ring. A general approach is proposed for adlayer photolysis based on the excitation of molecules into repulsive electronic states when bonds are stretched. It consists of the multiphoton transition of molecules into high vibrational levels in the vibronic continuum, bond elongation, and stimulated photoemission. Secondary processes in desorbed fragments were also studied.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0009261418309059-ga1.jpg" width="389" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Volume 264〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Antonio D. del Campo, María González-Sanchis, Alberto García-Prats, Carlos J. Ceacero, Cristina Lull〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Marginal semi-arid forests in areas currently affected by climate change are a challenge to forest management, which has to focus on key functional traits that can effectively contribute to resistance under extreme drought. We studied the effects of thinning in a marginal forest by quantifying functional responses relating to growth, carbon and water fluxes. Two experimental plots were established, one thinned in 2012 and the other one left as a control. The environmental conditions varied substantially during the 4-year study period, although dry years predominated. There were signs of dieback in the control with a decreasing inter-annual trend in LAI, as opposed to the treated plots, where LAI by the end of the study almost reached pre-thinning levels. Sap flow and transpiration were greatly enhanced by the treatment, with thinned trees transpiring 22.4 l tree〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 day〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 in the growing season, about twice the control figures. The seasonal patterns of transpiration and soil moisture were uncoupled, indicating a contribution of deep groundwater to the former flux. In the control, limitations to water and carbon dynamics (canopy conductance) occurred at soil moisture values below 16%, whereas in the thinned trees these limitations appeared when soil moisture dropped below 10%. Overall, oaks’ transpiration was enhanced with thinning to the point that stand-water use surpassed that of the control by the second half of the study period, averaging 24% of gross rainfall in both plots. Soil evaporation increased from 12 to 20% of gross rainfall after treatment in the overall period. The treatment had a profound watering effect in this marginal forest, led by fewer trees using the same amount of water as those in the untreated overstocked plot. This research may provide guidelines for ecohydrology-oriented silviculture in stands experiencing tree encroachment and transformation into shrublands that are more prone to global change-induced disturbances.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Applied Geophysics, Volume 159〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhang Sheng, Meng Xiaohong, Zhang Minghua, Chen Zhaoxi, Xiu Chunxiao, Liu Yajie〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Gravity forward modeling of the geological model is a necessary part in the investigation of subsurface density structures, and is extremely valuable in developing and testing gravity data processing and inversion algorithms. In dealing with practical problems, the traditional block model based gravity forward procedure is time consuming, and cannot accurately forward the semi-infinite extended model. To deal with these problems, we proposed an improved residual node density model based gravity forward method. In this method, we firstly transform the density model into a residual node density model with a specific boundary condition; and then remove all the zero residual node density points; and then calculate the gravity anomaly with these non-zero residual node density points. We implement the proposed method in both 2D and 3D cases with Fortran language, and then applied it to Marmousi2 (2D) and SEG/EAGE salt model (3D) gravity forward modeling. The result demonstrates that this method is efficient and has advantage in forward semi-infinite extended model with absolute density by providing a specific boundary condition.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 507〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mengxing Lin, Yuanyi Wu, Sohrab Rohani〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉For pharmaceutical crystallization design and control, the kinetics of nucleation and growth of crystals are significant parameters, especially for the system exhibiting polymorphic transformation. In this study, imatinib mesylate, whose solubility, nucleation and growth kinetics are lacking in the literature, was thoroughly explored in the aspects of characterization, solubility and polymorphic transformation, and evaluation of nucleation and growth rate. Two forms of imatinib mesylate, α and β, were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The solubility measurement of the two forms was performed with ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy in three solvents from 278.15 to 333.15 K at atmospheric pressure. The results indicated the β-form is more stable in methanol,1-propanol, and 2-propanol under the experimental condition. The solubility order is methanol 〉1-propanol 〉2-propanol. The solvent-mediated polymorphic transformation (SMPT) of imatinib mesylate from 〈em〉α〈/em〉-form to 〈em〉β〈/em〉-form was studied with the in-situ Raman spectroscopy and conductivity meter. It is found that the SMPT process of imatinib mesylate from 〈em〉α〈/em〉-form to 〈em〉β〈/em〉-form in methanol is controlled by nucleation and growth of 〈em〉β〈/em〉-form. Finally, the nucleation and grow rate of 〈em〉β〈/em〉-form of imatinib mesylate were estimated by minimizing the difference between the calculated and experimental solution concentration with MATLAB optimization function.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Surface and Coatings Technology, Volume 357〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jinjiao Xia, Wenping Liang, Qiang Miao, Diederik Depla〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Yttrium oxide thin films are grown by reactive magnetron sputtering. To achieve a high deposition rate, target poisoning is avoided by local oxygen addition at the substrate. In all deposited thin films only the monoclinic Y〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 phase is observed. A strong variation in the film texture across the sample for experiments with a stationary sample stage is noticed. This inhomogeneity can be partially traced back to an uneven oxygen gas distribution. Sample rotation resolves this problem, but still the gas distribution influences both the texture and the Bragg peak positions. Several configurations for the gas supply are tested with a different number of gas distribution pipes. An overview of all experiments shows an interesting correlation between the texture coefficient and the peak position of the monoclinic (111) Bragg reflection. When the peak shifts towards higher diffraction angles, the texture coefficient drops as a higher contribution of the 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si3.gif" overflow="scroll"〉〈mfenced close=")" open="("〉〈mrow〉〈mn mathvariant="normal"〉40〈/mn〉〈mover accent="false"〉〈mrow〉〈mn mathvariant="normal"〉2〈/mn〉〈/mrow〉〈mo mathvariant="normal"〉¯〈/mo〉〈/mover〉〈/mrow〉〈/mfenced〉〈/math〉 orientation is observed. This trend however is further complicated by the exact geometrical configuration on the deposition rate, and the energy/momentum of the species arriving at the substrate. As previously reported, an increasing energy/momentum per deposited atom results in monoclinic thin films with a preferential (111) out-of-plane orientation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 2 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 506, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tomohiro Yoshimura, Kanae Saitoh, Luchuanyang Sun, Yao Wang, Shigeto Taniyama, Kenichi Yamaguchi, Takayuki Uchida, Tsutomu Ohkubo, Atsushi Higashitani, Takeshi Nikawa, Katsuyasu Tachibana, Katsuya Hirasaka〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Cachexia, observed in most cancer patients, is a syndrome that includes wasting of bodily energy reserves and is characterized by muscle atrophy and fat loss. We have previously demonstrated that isoflavones, such as genistein and daidzein, prevent muscle wasting in tumor-bearing mice. In this study, we examined the effect of morin, a flavonoid, on cachexia. The wet weight and myofiber size of muscles in Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cell-bearing mice fed a normal diet were decreased, compared with those in control mice fed a normal diet. In contrast, intake of morin prevented the reduction of muscle wet weight and myofiber size. Moreover, the tumor weight in mice fed the morin diet was lower than that in mice fed the normal diet. Both cell viability and protein synthetic ability of LLC cells were reduced by treatment with morin, but C2C12 myotubes were not affected. Binding assay using morin-conjugated magnetic beads identified ribosomal protein S10 (RPS10) as a target protein of morin. Consistent with the result of morin treatment, knockdown of RPS10 suppressed LLC cell viability. These results suggest that morin indirectly prevents muscle wasting induced by cancer cachexia by suppressing cancer growth via binding to RPS10.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 2 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 506, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hua Yu, Jingjing Liu, Yizhi Dong, Min Xu, Le Xu, Huaqin Guan, Xiaoru Xia, Liangxing Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Background〈/h6〉 〈p〉Previous studies have found that dihydroartemisinin (DHA) has multiple functions such as anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor in addition to anti-malarial effects. Effect of DHA on monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension in rats has been reported, while the specific mechanism is not known.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Method〈/h6〉 〈p〉A hypoxic model was established with human pulmonary arterial endothelial cells (HPAECs) to investigate the possible mechanism of DHA. Effects of DHA on proliferation of HPAECs were evaluated by CCK-8 and EdU assay. Effects of DHA on cell oxidative stress, cell migration, angiogenesis, cell cycle and autophagy, as well as the possible underlying mechanism were also detected by using the established normoxia/hypoxia cell models.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Results〈/h6〉 〈p〉DHA significantly inhibited hypoxia induced increase of HPAECs proliferation in a dose dependent manner, migratory ability and angiogenic ability. DHA also significantly reversed hypoxia induced oxidative stress as a reduction of ROS and NO, and an increase of SOD. Autophagosomes, LC3B protein and apoptotic proteins were significantly increased in DHA treated hypoxic HPAECs. Autophagy inhibitor 3-Methyladenine diminishes the anti-hypoxia effects of DHA on cell proliferation, migration, and autophagy and apoptosis protein expression in HPAECs.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Conclusion〈/h6〉 〈p〉DHA effectively inhibits hypoxia induced increase of cell proliferation, migration, and oxidative stress in HPAECs, and autophagy may be the underlying mechanism of DHA.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhu Jichao, Wang Yuan, He Jie, Hu Lifang, Dong Rui〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A direct Z-scheme Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉@〈em〉e〈/em〉-HNbWO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 heterojunction photocatalyst was assembled by the co-precipitation procedure under the moderate conditions. The structures, spectral response characteristics, morphology, and composites of the as-prepared samples were characterized. Furthermore, the photocatalytic experiment towards the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution under simulated sunlight irradiation was investigated. It was found that the Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉@〈em〉e〈/em〉-HNbWO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 composite exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity. In accordance with the active species trapping experiment, photocurrent responses, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis, the possible enhanced photocatalytic performance of the Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉@〈em〉e〈/em〉-HNbWO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 composite could be explained by a direct Z-scheme photocatalytic mechanism. This direct Z-scheme heterojunction can not only improve the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers, but also increase the redox ability for excellent photocatalytic activities. The present study provides an effective approach to design and fabrication of niobium-based direct Z-scheme heterojunction for improve its photocatalytic performance.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0022369718319838-fx1.jpg" width="293" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Volume 281〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuan Chen, Xue-Rui Wei, Ru Sun, Yu-Jie Xu, Jian-Feng Ge〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Five cyanine dyes (〈strong〉1a-e〈/strong〉) with azonia unit have been prepared by the reaction of pyrido[1,2−a]pyrimidinium ions and suitable aldehydes. Before further research, their photo and thermal stabilities were determined in the first place. At least 88% absorption remained after 5 h irradiating illustrated all of these dyes had excellent photo stability. Meanwhile, the decomposition temperature of dyes was around 200 °C which demonstrated they had good thermal stability. Therefore, the good photo and thermal stability made them possible to be probes. Subsequently, the optical properties of probes toward nucleic acids had been measured. TheirOFF–ON fluorescent responses (〈strong〉1a〈/strong〉-〈strong〉d〈/strong〉) towards nucleic acids were investigated. In addition, confocal microscopy imaging of probe 〈strong〉1a〈/strong〉 in live HeLa cells indicated that probe 〈strong〉1a〈/strong〉 could image mitochondrial nucleic acid.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925400518319233-ga1.jpg" width="398" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Volume 281〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): S. Pimenta, S. Cardoso, E.M.S. Castanheira, G. Minas〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper presents a CMOS optical microsystem with a 4 × 4 photodiodes array and their readout electronics, based on 16 light-to-frequency converters, and 16 high selective optical filters, for spectrophotometric measurement of diffuse reflectance and fluorescence signals, applied to the detection of gastrointestinal dysplasia. The photodiodes array is based on n+/p-epilayer junction silicon photodiodes. Their readout electronics outputs a digital signal, with a frequency proportional to the photodiode current, featuring a sensitivity of 26 Hz/nA at 550 nm, a spectral resolution of 9 MHz and a power consumption of 1 mW. The optical filters are based on 16 thin-film narrow-band 〈em〉Fabry-Perot〈/em〉 resonators, in which dielectric mirrors are used. They feature high transmittances and low full-width-half-maximum. Experimental measurements, using phantoms representative of the main absorbing, scattering and fluorescence properties of gastrointestinal tissues, proved the viability of the CMOS optical microsystem with the optical filters to extract those signals, when comparing the obtained results with commercial equipment. The implemented apparatus is ready to be used as a portable system on a surgery room to verify the total removing of gastrointestinal cancer tissue. Moreover, the developed approach is a step forward in the implementation of a gastrointestinal dysplasia detection miniaturized tool.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Volume 281〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xueli Yang, Sufang Zhang, Qi yu, Liupeng Zhao, Peng Sun, Tianshuang Wang, Fangmeng Liu, Xu Yan, Yuan Gao, Xishuang Liang, Sumei Zhang, Geyu Lu〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, a novel branched heterostructural composite composed of nanorods ZnO backbone and SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 branches was prepared via a facile one-step hydrothermal method. The morphology, structure and component of the SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/ZnO composite was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and elemental mapping analysis. The evolution process of the SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/ZnO composite was observed by SEM that the SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 branches gradually grow on ZnO backbones. The composite with novel heterostructure was applied as the sensing material for the fabrication of gas sensor, and their gas sensing properties were tested for response to various gases. Compared to pure ZnO gas sensors the branched SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/ZnO gas sensor exhibited enhanced gas sensing properties toward ethanol, giving a response of 18.1–100 ppm.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Volume 182〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): K. Nithya, Ajil Kottayil, K. Mohanakumar〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A Stratosphere-Troposphere (ST) wind profiler radar at 205 MHz is operational at Cochin (10.04 N; 76.44 E), India since January 2017 and is providing accurate three-dimensional wind profiles for an altitude range of 315 m to 20 km. In this paper, we present a method to estimate the tropopause altitude from signal to noise ratio (SNR) profiles obtained from the 205 MHz wind profiler radar. The gradient in SNR is used to estimate the cold point tropopause (CPT) height. The CPT height obtained from the ST radar is validated against co-located radiosonde tropopause height measurements and is found to be in very good agreement. The variability of CPT height during monsoon season was studied and the factors responsible for its variability were investigated. It is found that during monsoon season the Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) has an inverse relationship with the CPT height, i.e. CPT height increases as the strength of TEJ diminishes and vice versa. A comparison between TEJ core speed and ice cloud water path (ICWP) which represents the strength of deep convection, shows that ICWP decreases as the strength of TEJ increases. Thus, our analysis shows that TEJ affects the tropopause height through changing the concentration of ice clouds.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 506〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rajeev Kumar Yadav, Vineet K. Gahalaut, Amit Kumar Bansal, S.P. Sati, Joshi Catherine, Param Gautam, Kireet Kumar, Naresh Rana〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉No great earthquake has occurred in the Garhwal–Kumaun region of NW Himalaya in the past 500 years or more. We report results of continuous GPS measurements from 28 sites from the region to suggest that the convergence rate in this part of the Himalaya is about 18 mm/yr which is leading to strain accumulation in the region. The Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) in the frontal part of the Himalaya under the Outer and southern Lesser Himalaya is strongly coupled for a width of about 85 km. The midcrustal ramp where earthquakes of Himalayan seismic belt occur, exhibits low coupling. Strong coupling on the MHT beneath the Outer and Lesser Himalaya is homogeneous except in the very shallow updip part of the MHT. Subduction of sediments of the Indo-Gangetic plains or the Delhi Hardwar ridge does not seem to influence coupling. A high rate of strain accumulation, which has continued for more than 500 years on a strongly coupled MHT makes this one of the most earthquake-vulnerable segments of the Himalayan arc.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0012821X18306198-gr001.jpg" width="458" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Volume 281〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Qian Ma, Pin Li, Zhiqiang Gao, Sam Fong Yau Li〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A simple fluorescence biosensor for rapid and sensitive target microRNA (miRNA) quantification by branched rolling circle amplification (BRCA) is developed in this work. Target miRNA functions as primer to recognize and hybridize with a circle DNA template, initiating rolling circle amplification (RCA) by Phi29 DNA polymerase. The introduction of reverse primers complementary to the RCA products enables isothermal BRCA, in which a large amount of deoxynucleotide (dNTP) were consumed and same number of pyrophosphates (PPi) were produced. In this study, a simple and non-expensively synthesized terpyridine-based Zn(II) complex is utilized as fluorescent probe for selective detection of pyrophosphate (PPi) over dNTP. The PPi generated in this isothermal amplification process efficiently chelates to this terpyridine-Zn(II) complex, forming a highly fluorescent complex, terpyridine-Zn(II)-PPi, whose fluorescence intensity is closely related with the initial target miRNA concentration. The utilization of the isothermal BRCA amplification and direct monitoring of the DNA polymerization by-product, i.e. PPi, for non-label fluorescence detection of miRNA greatly simplify this sensor procedure. This sensor shows a linear response between the fluorescence intensity and the target miRNA concentration from 50 to 500 fM with a detection limit of 25 fM. This much-simplified sensor offers a sensitive and easy-to-use platform for miRNA quantification, and hence may significantly enhance the utilisation of miRNAs as biomarkers in drug discovery, clinical diagnosis and life science research.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S092540051831918X-ga1.jpg" width="245" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 327〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): D.B. Mahadik, Yoon Kwang Lee, Taehee Kim, Wooje Han, Hyung-Ho Park〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Nanostructured tin oxide-carbon composite aerogel material (SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/C) is synthesized using a sol-gel process, followed by annealing treatment under N〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 atmosphere. Varying the temperature of annealing leads to different textural properties and phases of the carbon/tin oxide material. The performance of this composite aerogel as an anode material for Li-ion battery is studied, and favorable retention properties are observed SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/C annealed at 500 °C. This study provides insight into the role of moderately inactive carbon-based porous materials in composites with SnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 for improving the cyclability of tin oxide, an anode material that shows rapid fading. Incorporation into composite networks of inactive porous carbon enhances the mechanical properties of the tin oxide, which in turn strongly improves the cycling stability in Li-ion battery applications. The material exhibits an initial charge capacity of 1012 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and retains 63% of its initial capacity after 50 cycles at a current density of 637 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0167273818301425-ga1.jpg" width="412" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 327〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shuimei Chen, Daming Ren, Ming Zhang, Huanwen Wang, Beibei He, Yansheng Gong, Rui Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Sodium-ion batteries have been widely considered as promising energy storage systems due to the abundance and low cost of sodium. However, to find a kind of anode material with appropriate sodium storage and high structural stability still remains challenging. In this work, self-supported porous carbon fibers were prepared by electrospinning technique and plasma treatments. It's found that the porous carbon fibers become more loose after the plasma treatments, and the surface compositions are changed. Results show that the material after plasma treatments could deliver capacities higher than 200 mAh/g when the current density is 1000 mA/g. EIS results show that the charge transfer resistances of the treated material keep more stable after electrochemical cycles. And these improvements may be results of the plasma treatments. Detailed mechanisms are studied in this research.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Volume 264〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ren Li, Lin Zhao, Tonghua Wu, Qinxue Wang, Yongjian Ding, Jimin Yao, Xiaodong Wu, Guojie Hu, Yao Xiao, Yizhen Du, Xiaofan Zhu, Yanhui Qin, Shuhua Yang, Rui Bai, Erji Du, Guangyue Liu, Defu Zou, Yongping Qiao, Jianzong Shi〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Soil thermal conductivity (〈em〉λ〈/em〉) is one of the essential parameters relating to heat exchange, and it also plays a key role in verifying soil thermal hydrodynamics in permafrost regions. In this paper, the characteristic of in situ 〈em〉λ〈/em〉 was analyzed based on data measured from June 2004 to December 2008 at Tanggula district on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The result showed that diurnal 〈em〉λ〈/em〉 strongly influenced by variation of soil moisture content. The daily 〈em〉λ〈/em〉 exhibited distinct seasonal variation; on average, the largest value of 〈em〉λ〈/em〉 occurred in summer, followed by the autumn and spring season, while the smallest value occurred in winter. As a whole, 〈em〉λ〈/em〉 values in the unfrozen state were larger than those in the frozen state. Unsaturated soil and the huge difference in soil moisture content between the unfrozen state and initial freeze resulted in the lower 〈em〉λ〈/em〉 in the frozen state. For the study area, the critical value of local soil saturation degree was about 0.37, the corresponding critical soil moisture content was about 0.195 m〈sup〉3〈/sup〉 m〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉. And soil moisture content was the main factor controlling in situ 〈em〉λ〈/em〉. Finally, an empirically-derived model was proposed for predicting daily 〈em〉λ〈/em〉, and which showed good performance in the study area.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Volume 264〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Baoqing Zhang, Amir AghaKouchak, Yuting Yang, Jiahua Wei, Guangqian Wang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Different categories of droughts (e.g., meteorological, agricultural, hydrological), and their multi-scalar features often make description of drought onset, persistence, and termination challenging and often subjective. Here we show that a water-energy balance based indicator, named Standardized Moisture Anomaly Index (SZI), better captures multiple categories of droughts and their multi-scalar features. We globally evaluate and compare the performance of SZI with existing drought indicators that use potential evapotranspiration (PET) as a measure of atmospheric water demand including the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI). We show that while 〈em〉PET〈/em〉 is a good indicator for characterizing the climate aridity, using it as a measure of atmospheric water demand for drought analysis leads to misrepresentation of droughts, especially over water-limited (non-humid) regions where the actual evapotranspiration is primarily dominated by water availability rather than energy (or PET). The main advantage of SZI is that, instead of PET, it uses a variable termed climatically appropriate precipitation for existing conditions (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si2.gif" overflow="scroll"〉〈mover accent="true"〉〈mi〉P〈/mi〉〈mo〉ˆ〈/mo〉〈/mover〉〈/math〉) as the atmospheric water demand metric. Investigating droughts over 32 large basins across the globe, we show that the SZI can better represent meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural droughts compared to SPEI (especially in non-humid basins; 18 out of 32 basins) and scPDSI at multiple time scales. Given that SZI is physically more reasonable in reflecting surface water-energy balance over both humid and non-humid regions, it enables better characterization of different types of droughts in different climatic regions.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 507〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Veronika D. Grigorieva, Vladimir N. Shlegel, Nina V. Ivannikova, Tatyana B. Bekker, Alexander P. Yelisseyev, Artem B. Kuznetsov〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉For the first time Na〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Mo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉7〈/sub〉 crystals were grown by Czochralski technique in low-thermal-gradient conditions (LTG Cz), which allowed obtaining crystals of record size (100 (D) × 45 (L) mm〈sup〉3〈/sup〉) and optical quality. Influence of growth rate and seed direction on crystal morphology was studied, optimal growth conditions were determined. Three cleavage planes: (0 1 0), (0 0 1) and (0 2 1), were detected. Different characterizations of Na〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Mo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉7〈/sub〉 crystal samples, such as: transparency, photoluminescence, thermostimulated luminescence and Raman spectra were studied.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 507〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): X.F. Liu, G.G. Yan, Z.W. Shen, Z.X. Wen, J. Chen, Y.W. He, W.S. Zhao, L. Wang, M. Guan, F. Zhang, G.S. Sun, Y.P. Zeng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Although homoepitaxial growth of multiple 4H-SiC wafers in one run can be realized in commercial specialized chemical vapor deposition equipment, wafers must be loaded onto a rotatable large susceptor and overspread on it, which leads to the diameter of the susceptor increases as the number or the total area of the epitaxial wafer increases. in this work, we demonstrated a facile method for growth of multiple 4H-SiC wafers assembled in a simple holder via a home-made single-wafer conventional chemical vapor deposition equipment without a large susceptor. The structural properties of the obtained 4H-SiC films on each wafer were investigated by means of optical microscope, AFM, SEM and Raman. Results showed that high quality of homogeneous 4H-SiC film was epitaxially grown on the inner region of each wafer, while on the outer region, influenced by the mechanical parts of the simple holder, the quality was degraded. At last we draw a prospective on homoepitaxial growth of whole wafer through further reducing the adverse outer region via advanced holder and wafer assembly, which could greatly improve production efficiency and reduce energy consumption.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 326〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): A.J. Uriz, C. Buono, C.M. Aldao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We studied the influence of intergranular barrier fluctuations on the electrical response of 3D semiconductor polycrystals. We first computed with a numerical simulation model the dispersion in the intergranular barrier height on polycrystalline tin oxide due to the punctual character of the donors. Then, in order to quantify the effects of the barrier fluctuation in the overall conductivity of the semiconductor, we added the dispersion to the well known brick-layer model and determined the connection between impedance measurements and grain boundary resistivity. We found that, the brick-layer model gives lower values for the real intergrain resistivity. However, the error can be quantified indicating that the brick-layer model is not a bad approximation to determine electrical properties of intergrains of a polycrystal, specially for relatively large grains.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 327〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yongwu Shi, Jiaolian Luo, Rongpin Wang, Jianwu Zhao, Quan Xie〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Polyanion-type LiVPO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F has been regarded as a potential candidate of cathode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its high working voltage, excellent thermal stability and good safety. However, the pure LiVPO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F has a low electronic conductivity of 10〈sup〉−11〈/sup〉 S cm〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, which greatly limits its application in high-power density batteries. In this research, the core-shell carbon-coated LiVPO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F composite is prepared using a facile sol-gel method followed by a solid-state reaction. Owing to the synergistic effects rendered by the LiVPO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F nanoparticles and conductive carbon coating, the as-prepared composite exhibits high reversible capacity (147.9 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.1 C), excellent rate capability (121.2 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 5 C) and stable cyclic performance (94% capacity retention after 200 cycles at 2 C). These results reveal that the carbon-coated LiVPO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F material is a promising cathode material for high-power lithium-ion batteries.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 327〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Byeong Su Kang, Atsushi Inoishi, Atsushi Takagaki, Tatsumi Ishihara〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Interlayer composite thin film of Pr〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉0.71〈/sub〉Cu〈sub〉0.24〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉0.05〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉-Sm〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉Ce〈sub〉0.8〈/sub〉O〈sub〉1.9〈/sub〉 (PNCG-SDC) was deposited between the La〈sub〉0.9〈/sub〉Sr〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉0.8〈/sub〉Mg〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3-δ〈/sub〉 (LSGM) thin film and Sm〈sub〉0.5〈/sub〉Sr〈sub〉0.5〈/sub〉CoO〈sub〉3-δ〈/sub〉 (SSC) powder cathode for increasing the cathodic activity for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). It was found that cathodic overpotential was decreased by introduction of PNCG-SDC composite film resulting in the increased power density on both anode and electrolyte supported LSGM cell. The maximum power density of the anode supported cell using PNCG-SDC film was increased to 2.35 and 0.3 W/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 at 700 and 500 °C, respectively, which is higher than that of the cell without PNCG-SDC film. The activation energy estimated by cathodic overpotential indicated that PNCG-SDC film was effective for increasing the activity of active sites. Based on these results, PNCG-SDC composited film, which may be double columnar structure, was highly effective for increasing cathodic performance to oxygen reduction at intermediate temperature.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 327〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bo Dong, Jinhui Yan, Brant Walkley, Kenneth K. Inglis, Frédéric Blanc, Stephen Hull, Anthony R. West〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A new polymorphic phase, Li〈sub〉5〈/sub〉SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F, with Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion dynamics that are structurally distinct from Li〈sub〉4〈/sub〉SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, is described. The γ polymorph forms at 750–775 °C, melts incongruently at 800 °C and crystallizes in a monoclinic unit cell: a = 8.67(1) Å, b = 16.51(1) Å, c = 11.23(2) Å, β = 96.61(4) ° and V = 1602.3(3) Å〈sup〉3〈/sup〉. The α polymorph forms at 650 °C and appears to be metastable. The γ polymorph has a Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion conductivity of 1.2 × 10〈sup〉−7〈/sup〉 S cm〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 40 °C, that is several orders of magnitude higher than both the α polymorph and Li〈sub〉4〈/sub〉SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, with an associated activation energy of 0.51(1) eV. Variable temperature 〈sup〉19〈/sup〉F and 〈sup〉7〈/sup〉Li static NMR measurements show the absence of F〈sup〉−〈/sup〉 mobility but the existence of Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 mobility and confirm that Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 is the main charge carrier in both polymorphs of Li〈sub〉5〈/sub〉SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F. 〈sup〉7〈/sup〉Li line narrowing NMR experiments suggest that the barrier to local Li hopping is fairly small (0.2–0.3 eV) with faster Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion dynamics in γ-Li〈sub〉5〈/sub〉SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F compared to α-Li〈sub〉5〈/sub〉SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F. γ-Li〈sub〉5〈/sub〉SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉F has negligible electronic conductivity, is stable in contact with Li metal and is a new type of stoichiometric, mixed anion, Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion conductor.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Fish & Shellfish Immunology, Volume 84〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xin Cai, Chengbin Gao, Huanhuan Song, Ning Yang, Qiang Fu, Fenghua Tan, Chao Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Cathepsin Z (CTSZ) is a lysosomal cysteine protease of the papain superfamily. It participates in the host immune defense via phagocytosis, signal transduction, cell-cell communication, proliferation, and migration of immune cells such as monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. In this study, we reported the identification of 〈em〉Sm〈/em〉CTSZ, a CTSZ homolog from turbot (〈em〉Scophthalmus maximus〈/em〉 L.). 〈em〉Sm〈/em〉CTSZ was 317 residues in length and contains a Pept-C1 domain. In multiple species comparison, 〈em〉Sm〈/em〉CTSZ shared 65–93% overall sequence identities with the CTSZ counterparts from human, rat, and several fish species. In the phylogenetic analysis, 〈em〉Sm〈/em〉CTSZ showed the closest relationship to 〈em〉Cynoglossus semilaevis〈/em〉. The syntenic analysis revealed the similar neighboring genes of CTSZ across all the selected species, which suggested the synteny encompassing CTSZ region during vertebrate evolution. Subsequently, 〈em〉Sm〈/em〉CTSZ was constitutively expressed in various tissues, with the lowest and highest levels in brain and intestine respectively. In addition, 〈em〉Sm〈/em〉CTSZ was significantly up-regulated in intestine following both Gram-negative bacteria 〈em〉Vibrio anguillarum〈/em〉, and Gram-positive bacteria 〈em〉Streptococcus iniae〈/em〉 immersion challenge. Finally, the 〈em〉rSm〈/em〉CTSZ showed strong binding ability to all the examined microbial ligands, and the agglutination effect to different bacteria. Taken together, these results indicated 〈em〉Sm〈/em〉CTSZ could play important roles in mucosal immune response in the event of bacterial infection in teleost. However, the knowledge of CTSZ are still limited in teleost species, further studies should be carried out to better characterize its detailed roles in teleost mucosal immunity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 14 August 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mehdi Samiee, Mohsen Zayernouri, Mark M. Meerschaert〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We present the stability and error analysis of the unified Petrov–Galerkin spectral method, developed in [1], for linear fractional partial differential equations with two-sided derivatives and constant coefficients in any (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.gif" overflow="scroll"〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈mo〉+〈/mo〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈/math〉)-dimensional space-time hypercube, 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si2.gif" overflow="scroll"〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mo〉=〈/mo〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈mo〉,〈/mo〉〈mn〉2〈/mn〉〈mo〉,〈/mo〉〈mn〉3〈/mn〉〈mo〉,〈/mo〉〈mo〉⋯〈/mo〉〈/math〉, subject to homogeneous Dirichlet initial/boundary conditions. Specifically, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the weak form and perform the corresponding stability and error analysis of the proposed method. Finally, we perform several numerical simulations to compare the theoretical and computational rates of convergence.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 376〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Giovanni Soligo, Alessio Roccon, Alfredo Soldati〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, we propose and test the validity of a modified Phase Field Method (PFM), which is specifically developed for large scale simulations of turbulent flows with large and deformable surfactant-laden droplets. The time evolution of the phase field, 〈em〉ϕ〈/em〉, and of the surfactant concentration field, 〈em〉ψ〈/em〉, are obtained from two Cahn–Hilliard-like equations together with a two-order-parameter Time-Dependent Ginzburg–Landau (TDGL) free energy functional. The modifications introduced circumvent existing limitations of current approaches based on PFM and improve the well-posedness of the model. The effect of surfactant on surface tension is modeled via an Equation Of State (EOS), further improving the flexibility of the approach. This method can efficiently handle topological changes, i.e. breakup and coalescence, and describe adsorption/desorption of surfactant. The capabilities of the proposed approach are tested in this paper against previous experimental results on the effects of surfactant on the deformation of a single droplet and on the interactions between two droplets. Finally, to appreciate the performances of the model on a large scale complex simulation, a qualitative analysis of the behavior of surfactant-laden droplets in a turbulent channel flow is presented and discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 376〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sergii V. Siryk〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We provide a careful Fourier analysis of the Guermond–Pasquetti mass lumping correction technique (Guermond and Pasquetti, 2013 [11]) applied to pure transport and convection–diffusion problems. In particular, it is found that increasing the number of corrections reduces the accuracy for problems with diffusion; however all the corrected schemes are more accurate than the consistent Galerkin formulation in this case. For the pure transport problems the situation is the opposite. We also investigate the differences between two numerical solutions – the consistent solution and the corrected ones, and show that increasing the number of corrections makes solutions of the corrected schemes closer to the consistent solution in all cases.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 377〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adam S. Jermyn〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Tensors are a natural way to express correlations among many physical variables, but storing tensors in a computer naively requires memory which scales exponentially in the rank of the tensor. This is not optimal, as the required memory is actually set not by the rank but by the mutual information amongst the variables in question. Representations such as the tensor tree perform near-optimally when the tree decomposition is chosen to reflect the correlation structure in question, but making such a choice is non-trivial and good heuristics remain highly context-specific. In this work I present two new algorithms for choosing efficient tree decompositions, independent of the physical context of the tensor. The first is a brute-force algorithm which produces optimal decompositions up to truncation error but is generally impractical for high-rank tensors, as the number of possible choices grows exponentially in rank. The second is a greedy algorithm, and while it is not optimal it performs extremely well in numerical experiments while having runtime which makes it practical even for tensors of very high rank.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 377〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lam H. Nguyen, Dominik Schillinger〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We describe a local iterative corrector scheme that significantly improves the accuracy of the multiscale finite element method (MsFEM). Our technique is based on the definition of a local corrector problem for each multiscale basis function that is driven by the residual of the previous multiscale solution. Each corrector problem results in a local corrector solution that improves the accuracy of the corresponding multiscale basis function at element interfaces. We cast the strategy of residual-driven correction in an iterative scheme that is straightforward to implement and, due to the locality of corrector problems, well-suited for parallel computing. We show that the iterative scheme converges to the best possible fine-mesh solution. Finally, we illustrate the effectiveness of our approach with multiscale benchmarks characterized by missing scale separation, including the microCT-based stress analysis of a vertebra with trabecular microstructure.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Radiation Measurements, Volume 119〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Larisa Grigorjeva, Aleksejs Zolotarjovs, Donats Millers, Krisjanis Smits, Peter Krug, Johannes Stollenwerk, Alan Osman, Thomas Tenostendarp〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉For many years doped α-Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 has attracted interest as a dosimeter for personal, environment monitoring and food control. The alumina single crystal growth is a difficult process; however, materials in form of powders, ceramics and coating are possible to obtain. In this study for the first time Cr doped α-Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 powders were prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering followed by milling and oxidation. The morphology and phase analysis was performed; content of residual impurities was determined and thermostimulated glow curves were measured after different x-ray irradiation times (radiation doses). The prepared powder shows the dosimetry properties up to 20 kGy dose.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huan Zong, Xijiao Mu, Jiangcai Wang, Huifang Zhao, Ying Shi, Mengtao Sun〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this paper, we report time resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) using femtosecond ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. The lifetimes of FRET are strongly dependent on the molecular concentration and ratio of donor and acceptor. Also, in the FRET, photoinduced intermolecular charge transfer (PICT) is also investigated theoretically. The driving force for PICT in FRET system equals the reorganization energy, which gives barrier-less charge transfer according to Marcus theory. The rates of PICT in the FRET system can be estimated with our simplified Marcus equation. Our results of PICT in FRET system provide a new efficient way for the charge transfer in donor-acceptor system.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309855-ga1.jpg" width="296" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 377〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Brody Bassett, Brian Kiedrowski〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The meshless local Petrov–Galerkin (MLPG) method is applied to the steady-state and 〈em〉k〈/em〉-eigenvalue neutron transport equations, which are discretized in energy using the multigroup approximation and in angle using the discrete ordinates approximation. To prevent oscillations in the neutron flux, the MLPG transport equation is stabilized by the streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) method. Global neutron conservation is enforced by using moving least squares basis and weight functions and appropriate SUPG parameters. The cross sections in the transport equation are approximated in accordance with global particle balance and without constraint on their spatial dependence or the location of the basis and weight functions. The equations for the strong-form meshless collocation approach are derived for comparison to the MLPG equations. The method of manufactured solutions is used to verify the resulting MLPG method in one, two and three dimensions. Results for realistic problems, including two-dimensional pincells, a reflected ellipsoid and a three-dimensional problem with voids, are verified by comparison to Monte Carlo simulations.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 28 May 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Frederic Gibou, David Hyde, Ron Fedkiw〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We present a review on numerical methods for simulating multiphase and free surface flows. We focus in particular on numerical methods that seek to preserve the discontinuous nature of the solutions across the interface between phases. We provide a discussion on the Ghost-Fluid and Voronoi Interface methods, on the treatment of surface tension forces that avoid stringent time step restrictions, on adaptive grid refinement techniques for improved efficiency and on parallel computing approaches. We present the results of some simulations obtained with these treatments in two and three spatial dimensions. We also provide a discussion of Machine Learning and Deep Learning techniques in the context of multiphase flows and propose several future potential research thrusts for using deep learning to enhance the study and simulation of multiphase flows.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021999118303371-gr001.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 26 October 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiaodong Liu, Jiguang Sun〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Inverse scattering has been an active research area for the past thirty years. While very successful in many cases, progress has lagged when only 〈em〉limited-aperture〈/em〉 measurement is available. In this paper, we perform some elementary study to recover data that can not be measured directly. In particular, we aim at recovering the 〈em〉full-aperture〈/em〉 far field data from 〈em〉limited-aperture〈/em〉 measurement. Due to the reciprocity relation, the multi-static response matrix (MSR) has a symmetric structure. Using the Green's formula and single layer potential, we propose two schemes to recover 〈em〉full-aperture〈/em〉 MSR. The recovered data is tested by a recently proposed direct sampling method and the factorization method. Numerical results show that it is possible to, at least, partially recover the missing data and consequently improve the reconstruction of the scatterer.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 377〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): D. Reiser, J. Romazanov, Ch. Linsmeier〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The problem of constructing Monte-Carlo solutions of drift-diffusion systems corresponding to Fokker–Planck equations with sources and sinks is revisited. Firstly, a compact formalism is introduced for the specific problem of stationary solutions. This leads to identification of the dwell time as the key quantity to characterize the system and to obtain a proper normalization for statistical analysis of numerical results. Secondly, the question of appropriate track length estimators for drift-diffusion systems is discussed for a 1D model system. It is found that a simple track length estimator can be given only for pure drift motion without diffusion. The stochastic nature of the diffusive part cannot be appropriately described by the path length of simulation particles. Further analysis of the usual situation with inhomogeneous drift and diffusion coefficients leads to an error estimate based on particle trajectories. The result for limits in grid cell size and time step used for the construction of Monte-Carlo trajectories resembles the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy and von Neumann conditions for explicit methods.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kai Zhang, Lei Cai, Jianzhong Fan, Yuchen Zhang, Lili Lin, Chuan-Kui Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Recently, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules have attracted great attention since nearly 100% exciton usage efficiency was obtained in TADF molecules. Most TADF molecules used in organic light-emitting diodes are in aggregation state, so it is necessary to make out the intermolecular interaction on their photophysical properties. In this work, the excited-state properties of the molecule AI-Cz in solid phase are theoretically studied by the combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) method. Our results show that geometry changes between the ground state (S〈sub〉0〈/sub〉) and the first singlet excited state (S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉) are limited due to the intermolecular π-π and CH-π interactions. The energy gap between S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 and the first triplet excited state is broadened and the transition properties of excited states are changed. Moreover, the Huang-Rhys factors and the reorganization energy between S〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 and S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 are decreased in solid phase, because the vibration modes and rotations are hindered by intermolecular interaction. The non-radiative rate has a large decrease in solid phase which improves the light-emitting performance of the molecule. Our calculation provides a reasonable explanation for experimental measurements and highlights the effect of intermolecular interaction on excited-states properties of TADF molecules.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309867-ga1.jpg" width="499" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 376〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dinshaw S. Balsara, Roger Käppeli〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The time-dependent equations of computational electrodynamics (CED) are evolved consistent with the divergence constraints on the electric displacement and magnetic induction vector fields. Respecting these constraints has proved to be very useful in the classic finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) schemes. As a result, there has been a recent effort to design finite volume time domain (FVTD) and discontinuous Galerkin time domain (DGTD) schemes that satisfy the same constraints and, nevertheless, draw on recent advances in higher order Godunov methods. This paper catalogues the first step in the design of globally constraint-preserving DGTD schemes. The algorithms presented here are based on a novel DG-like method that is applied to a Yee-type staggering of the electromagnetic field variables in the faces of the mesh. The other two novel building blocks of the method include constraint-preserving reconstruction of the electromagnetic fields and multidimensional Riemann solvers; both of which have been developed in recent years by the first author.〈/p〉 〈p〉The resulting DGTD scheme is linear, at least when limiters are not applied to the DG scheme. As a result, it is possible to carry out a von Neumann stability analysis of the entire suite of DGTD schemes for CED at orders of accuracy ranging from second to fourth. The analysis requires some simplifications in order to make it analytically tractable, however, it proves to be extremely instructive. A von Neumann stability analysis is a necessary precursor to the design of a full DGTD scheme for CED. It gives us the maximal CFL numbers that can be sustained by the DGTD schemes presented here at all orders. It also enables us to understand the wave propagation characteristics of the schemes in various directions on a Cartesian mesh. We find that constraint-preserving DGTD schemes permit CFL numbers that are competitive with conventional DG schemes. However, like conventional DG schemes, the CFL of DGTD schemes decreases with increasing order. To counteract that, we also present constraint-preserving PNPM schemes for CED. We find that the third and fourth order constraint-preserving DGTD and P1PM schemes have some extremely attractive properties when it comes to low-dispersion, low-dissipation propagation of electromagnetic waves in multidimensions. Numerical accuracy tests are also provided to support the von Neumann stability analysis. We expect these methods to play a role in those problems of engineering CED where exceptional precision must be achieved at any cost.〈/p〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 377〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yinghe Qi, Jiacai Lu, Ruben Scardovelli, Stéphane Zaleski, Grétar Tryggvason〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In spite of considerable progress, computing curvature in Volume of Fluid (VOF) methods continues to be a challenge. The goal is to develop a function or a subroutine that returns the curvature in computational cells containing an interface separating two immiscible fluids, given the volume fraction in the cell and the adjacent cells. Currently, the most accurate approach is to fit a curve (2D), or a surface (3D), matching the volume fractions and finding the curvature by differentiation. Here, a different approach is examined. A synthetic data set, relating curvature to volume fractions, is generated using well-defined shapes where the curvature and volume fractions are easily found and then machine learning is used to fit the data (training). The resulting function is used to find the curvature for shapes not used for the training and implemented into a code to track moving interfaces. The results suggest that using machine learning to generate the relationship is a viable approach that results in reasonably accurate predictions.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics, Volume 376〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mani Razi, Robert M. Kirby, Akil Narayan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this paper, we introduce a novel approach for the construction of multi-fidelity surrogate models with “discrete” fidelity levels. The notion of a discrete level of fidelity is in contrast to a mathematical model, for which the notion of refinement towards a high-fidelity model is relevant to sending a discretization parameter toward zero in a continuous way. Our notion of discrete fidelity levels encompasses cases for which there is no notion of convergence in terms of a fidelity parameter that can be sent to zero or infinity. The particular choice of how levels of fidelity are defined in this framework paves the way for using models that may have no apparent physical or mathematical relationship to the target high-fidelity model. However, our approach requires that models can produce results with a common set of parameters in the target model. Hence, fidelity level in this work is not directly representative of the degree of similarity of a low-fidelity model to a target high-fidelity model. In particular, we show that our approach is applicable to competitive ecological systems with different numbers of species, discrete-state Markov chains with a different number of states, polymer networks with a different number of connections, and nano-particle plasmonic arrays with a different number of scatterers. The results of this study demonstrate that our procedure boasts computational efficiency and accuracy for a wide variety of models and engineering systems.〈/p〉〈/div〉