ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Subish John, Samba Siva Vadla, Somnath C. Roy〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉CuO is a narrow band gap 〈em〉p〈/em〉-type semiconducting material having a wide range of applications. However, it is quite challenging to obtain phase pure CuO nanostructures grown directly on Cu substrate as most of the synthesis techniques like thermal oxidation results in the formation of additional Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O phase. In this work, we report the growth of CuO nanoflakes without the formation of Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O by a facile two-step synthesis process which consist of electrochemical anodization of Cu foil followed by low-temperature hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C. The phase purity of the sample is confirmed through XRD, XPS, and HRTEM. Further, photocurrent response of the sample is evaluated, and a rapid thermal treatment was used to improve the photo-response without altering the phase and morphology of the CuO nanoflakes. Such a process at 400 °C for 10 s resulted in a high photocurrent density of −4.6 mAcm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 (at 0.05 V 〈em〉vs.〈/em〉 RHE under AM 1.5G conditions). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Mott Schottky analysis shows the direct role of rapid thermal treatment in increasing the charge carrier density of the sample.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619313337-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Cong Liu, Fenyun Yi, Dong Shu, Weixin Chen, Xiaoping Zhou, Zhenhua Zhu, Ronghua Zeng, Aimei Gao, Chun He, Xia Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Three-dimensional N/S co-doped succulent-like hierarchical carbon (3D NS-SHC) is synthesized by carbonization of a supramolecular cluster. In this supramolecular process, potassium citrate can act as a reliable carbon source, while the thiourea as a N/S source and then, two molecules gradually tend to generate a giant “all-in-one” precursor via hydrogen bonding verified by Independent Gradient Model (IGM) calculation. TEM and SEM images show the N/S co-doped carbon holds a novel 3D succulent-like hierarchical structure. For NS-SHC-8:8 sample, element mapping images display the uniform N/S atoms distribution. These distinct features can be related to the supramolecular polymerization which promotes in-situ N/S co-doping homogenously and conduces to build 3D structure. Typically, NS-SHC-8:8 electrode exhibits prominent specific capacitance (258.5 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and excellent cycle stability (94.4% after 20000 cycles) in three-electrode system. Furthermore, an assembled quasi-solid state symmetric supercapacitor delivers good energy density (10.2 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 250 W kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and steady cycle endurance (85.1% after 10000 cycles). These eximious behaviors of NS-SHC-8:8 are mainly attributed to (1) the uniform N/S atoms distribution and their synergistic effect, which brings extra Faradaic reaction to higher specific capacitance, (2) the charming 3D succulent-like hierarchical structure, which serves as a multifunctional reservoir that can accommodate the ion/charge and facilitate their migration to further promote the electrochemical performance. Above mentions suggest that this uniformly heteroatom-modified carbon material produced by supramolecular technique is promising for high-performance energy storage devices.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619313283-fx1.jpg" width="296" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Arunprabaharan Subramanian, Mahadeo A. Mahadik, Jin-Woo Park, In Kwon Jeong, Hee-Suk Chung, Hyun Hwi Lee, Sun Hee Choi, Weon-Sik Chae, Jum Suk Jang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Herein, we report the surface treatment on Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoped α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode for high-performance photoelectrochemical water splitting. A high-temperature quenching exhibits the Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoping in α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode without damaging morphology. The presence of Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoping shows a cathodic shift in onset potential, but lack of increment in photocurrent reveals the major role of passivation and the minimum doping effect of aluminum. Additionally, CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 cocatalyst exhibits increment in photocurrent with the greater cathodic shift in onset potential than the pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanorods. The CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 surface-reworked Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoped α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode displays the highest photocurrent of 1.5 mA/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 at 1.23 V vs. RHE (76% increment over the pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉) and 0.7 mA/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 at 1.0 V vs. RHE (102% increment over the pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉). The systematic characterization carried out using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirms that after Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoping, and surface treatment, the crystalline structure, and morphology of the photoanodes remains unchanged. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the existence of Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codopants in the hematite nanostructure. The electrochemical properties of the photoanode suggest that Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 and Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 codoping, as well as surface treatment with CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉, cocatalyst lowers charge transfer resistance across the FTO/hematite interface, and hematite/electrolyte interface. This designs not only lowers onset potential but also offers the blueprint for the development of an efficient catalyst for solar water oxidation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 surface-reworked Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoped α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode displays the 102% increment in PEC performance than pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 at 1.0 V vs. RHE.〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619312927-fx1.jpg" width="471" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and Proteomics, Volume 1867, Issue 9〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Deo R. Singh, Christopher King, Matt Salotto, Kalina Hristova〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉EGFR is a receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a critical role in cell proliferation, differentiation, survival and migration. Its activating ligand, EGF, has long been believed to stabilize the EGFR dimer. Two research studies aimed at quantitative measurements of EGFR dimerization, however, have led to contradicting conclusions and have questioned this view. Given the controversy, here we sought to measure the dimerization of EGFR in the absence and in the presence of saturating EGF concentrations, and to tease out the effect of ligand on dimer stability, using a FRET-based quantitative method. Our measurements show that the dissociation constant is decreased ~150 times due to ligand binding, indicative of significant dimer stabilization. In addition, our measurements demonstrate that EGF binding induces a conformational change in the EGFR dimer.〈/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-S0005273619301476-ga1.jpg" width="265" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yanjie Hou, Tian Gong, Jiangtao Zhang, Xi Yang, Yurong Guo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The thinned-young apple polysaccharides from three varieties were obtained by hot water extraction at 88 ̊C for 120 min. The compositional monosaccharides of the three polysaccharides were shown to be the same (xylose, mannose, galactose and glucose) and the molecular weights of the polysaccharides were in the range of 200–300 kDa. Compared with “Qinyang” and “Pinklady”, the polysaccharide from “Jinshiji” had the highest emulsifying capacity. Moreover, the variations in pH and cation ion concentrations had also a significant effect on the emulsifying properties of the extracted polysaccharides. At pH 2.0–4.0, the prepared emulsion had smaller droplet sizes than at higher pH values. Although the emulsion was stable at low concentrations of Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 and Ca〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 ions, high concentrations of Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 and Ca〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 led to significant destabilization of the emulsion. Conclusively, our results demonstrated the potential application of thinned-young apple polysaccharide as a natural polysaccharide emulsifying agent.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and Proteomics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Martina Paumann-Page, Rupert Tscheliessnig, Benjamin Sevcnikar, Romy-Sophie Katz, Irene Schwartz, Stefan Hofbauer, Vera Pfanzagl, Paul G. Furtmüller, Christian Obinger〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Human peroxidasin 1 is a multidomain peroxidase situated in the basement membrane. The iron enzyme with covalently bound heme oxidizes bromide to hypobromous acid which facilitates the formation of distinct sulfilimine cross-links in the collagen IV network and therefore contributes to its mechanical stability. Additional to the catalytically active peroxidase domain peroxidasin comprises a leucine rich repeat domain, four Ig domains and a C-terminal von Willebrand factor type C module (VWC). Peroxidasin has been shown to form homotrimers involving two redox-sensitive cysteine residues and to undergo posttranslational C-terminal proteolytic cleavage. The present study on several recombinantly produced truncated peroxidasin variants showed that the VWC is not required for trimer formation whereas the alpha-helical linker region located between the peroxidase domain and the VWC is crucial for trimerization. Our data furthermore implies that peroxidasin oligomerization occurs intracellularly before C-terminal cleavage. For the first time we present overall solution structures of monomeric and trimeric truncated peroxidasin variants which were determined by rotary shadowing combined with transmission electron microscopy and by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). A triangular arrangement of the peroxidase domains to each other within the homotrimer was revealed and this structure was confirmed by a model of trimeric peroxidase domains. Our SAXS data showed that the Ig domains are highly flexible and interact with the peroxidase domain and that within the homotrimer each alpha-helical linker region interacts with the respective adjacent peroxidase domain. The implications of our findings on the structure-function relationship of peroxidasin are discussed.〈/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-S1570963919301219-ga1.jpg" width="240" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Marine Systems, Volume 199〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Peisheng Huang, Kerry Trayler, Benya Wang, Amina Saeed, Carolyn E. Oldham, Brendan Busch, Matthew R. Hipsey〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Effective short- and long-term estuarine water quality management decisions require a holistic view of estuarine response to multiple stressors that may be achieved through the integration of numerical modelling and observed data. Such an approach has been developed for the Swan-Canning Estuary system, a eutrophic urban estuary in Western Australia under threat from nutrient enrichment and a drying climate. Numerical modelling was integrated with long-term monitoring to develop the system Swan-Canning Estuary Virtual Observatory (SCEVO), which has been used to facilitate water quality management and streamline prediction workflows of hindcast, forecast, and environmental response functions. The system is based on a validated 3D water quality model, integrated within a data management system and related environmental models. A machine-learning method to improve the patchy and time-lagged catchment inputs is also highlighted. This work has identified that the key challenge associated with estuarine water quality prediction is the capability to (1) simulate internal physical and biogeochemical processes at suitable spatial resolution to resolve the gradients along the freshwater-ocean continuum; and (2) transition from using routine monitoring data as the basis for management decisions to using a diverse and integrated set of data streams as the basis for real-time operational decisions. Recommendations for high-frequency monitoring to support water quality modelling and dynamic integration between numerical and observed data for improved forecasting are discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 135〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lamya H. Al-Wahaibi, Yusuf Sert, Fatih Ucun, Nora H. Al-Shaalan, Aisha Alsfouk, Ali A. El-Emam, Mustafa Karakaya〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This research relates to the molecular structure, electronic properties and IR, Raman and XPS analyses of the potential chemotherapeutic agent namely, 5-(adamantan-1-yl)-〈em〉N〈/em〉-methyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine. Another purpose is to explore the structural stabilities and consistencies and, to assess the stable interaction energy and intermolecular hydrogen bond geometry for its dimeric structure. The monomer and dimer optimizations of the molecule have been calculated by the DFT method using various functionals such as B3LYP, B3PW91, mPW1PW91 and M06-2X. Although the minimum energy optimization was calculated at the B3LYP functional, the BSSE-corrected and uncorrected interaction energies of the dimer structure were more effectively obtained with the M062X functional. This assured us a test of the efficiency of M06-Class functional calculations on intermolecular interactions of strongly bound systems. Additionally, the molecular docking study was done between our molecule (ligand) and the previously studied and known as cortisone reductase 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (receptor, 11-β-HSD1: PDB-2ILT).〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0022369718334346-fx1.jpg" width="455" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adrian Doicu, Michael I. Mishchenko〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The problem of backscattering of light by a discrete random medium illuminated by an obliquely incident plane electromagnetic wave is considered. The analysis is performed in a linear-polarization basis and includes (i) a complete derivation of the cross reflection matrix for a layer with densely and sparsely distributed particles, (ii) the design of an approximate method for computing the ladder and cross reflection matrices in the case of a semi-infinite medium with a sparse distribution of particles, (iii) the derivation of the relations between the elements of the ladder and cross reflection matrices in the exact backscattering direction for dense and sparse media, and (iv) the development of practical algorithms for solving the underlying integral equations by the method of Picard iterations and the discrete ordinate method. Simulation results for particles with large size parameters are also presented.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 135〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongfang Jiu, Na Ren, Lixin Zhang, Qing Zhang, Yuying Gao, Yajuan Meng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The flower-like ZnMn〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 hollow microtubules were synthesized by a hydrothermal method and calcination method. The composition and morphology were characterized. The results showed that flower-like hollow microtubules were obtained through calcination treatment. The as-prepared ZnMn〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 electrochemical properties of flower-like hollow microtubules anode material for lithium-ion batteries were investigated. The first charge and discharge capacity was measured at 2152/1263 mA h g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 when the current density at 400 mA g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. After 300 cycles, the capacity kept 515 mA h g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 corresponding to the coulombic efficiency of 99%, which exhibited preferable cycling performance. The stability of the structure has been shown by rate performance, which had been tested under different current density. The results suggest a promising application of the ZnMn〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 as anode material for lithium-ion batteries.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0022369718333468-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 135〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Takahiro Iijima, Tadashi Shimizu, Atsushi Goto, Kenzo Deguchi, Toshihito Nakai, Ryutaro Ohashi, Masayoshi Saito〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In Ti-based Ziegler-Natta catalysts (ZNCs), disagreements exist concerning which lateral surface of the MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 support adsorbs Ti species so as to be an active site for the catalysis of polymerization. In the present paper, we investigated the local structure of TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 adsorbed onto the surface of MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 by 〈sup〉47,49〈/sup〉Ti solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra at 21.8 T along with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The magic-angle-spinning NMR spectrum of the TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 adduct sample prepared by 20 h of milling, which exhibited broadened and shifted peaks compared to that of the sample without milling, was simulated by a Czjzek model considering the distribution of quadrupole interaction parameters. The electric field gradient and chemical shielding tensors of 〈sup〉49〈/sup〉Ti were obtained via DFT calculations for model molecules of TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, 2TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, and Ti〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Cl〈sub〉8〈/sub〉 adsorbed onto the (110), (104), and (104)-step defect surfaces of MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. By comparing the obtained NMR parameters, the 〈sup〉47,49〈/sup〉Ti NMR spectrum of the milled sample was assigned to TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 adsorbed onto the (104) surface of MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, which may not be a principal component of adsorption.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002236971930472X-fx1.jpg" width="380" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Marine Systems, Volume 199〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Arseny A. Kubryakov, Alexander S. Mikaelyan, Sergey V. Stanichny〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Bio-Argo measurements of the backscattering coefficient (〈em〉bbp〈/em〉) were used to investigate the time-depth evolution of coccolithophore blooms in the Black Sea. Five years of Bio-Argo data obtained in 2014–2018 revealed two distinct peaks of 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 corresponding to the winter and early summer coccolithophore blooms. The latter started in the upper mixed layer (UML) in April–May and was characterized by the highest coccolithophore concentrations. During the most extensive summer bloom in 2017, its estimates reach 10 × 10〈sup〉6〈/sup〉 cells l〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. The summer blooms occupied the UML (0–10 m) and a seasonal thermocline (10–30 m). The lower boundary of the bloom was related to the position of isopycnal 1014 kg m〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉, which deepens in May–July due to summer heating. Consequently, the coccolithophore bloom deepened to 20–30 m and terminated rapidly in July. Bloom termination was accompanied by a significant rise in light attenuation (〈em〉kd〈/em〉) in the sea basin. This peak was attributed to the release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which was possibly related to viral lysis and the exudation of lipids from coccolithophore cells. Data on the 〈em〉kd〈/em〉 was used to estimate the seasonal variability in DOC in the Black Sea. Maximal estimated values of DOC were observed at 15–35 m depth in June-August and coincided with the early summer coccolithophore bloom termination.〈/p〉 〈p〉The winter coccolithophore bloom started in October–November in the UML. The maximum 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 was observed in January. High values of 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 were observed down to a depth of 60 m during the maximal deepening of the mixed layer. The winter blooms were distinctly observed in MODIS satellite images, where they were characterized by high reflectance and relatively low chlorophyll concentrations. The estimated coccolithophore concentration in winter was lower than that in summer, but column-averaged 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 values were comparable. The winter coccolithophore bloom reached a peak within one month after the autumn peak of chlorophyll A, indicating the possible importance of the nutrients recycled after the diatom autumn bloom. In contrast to summer, the maximum DOC observed at the surface preceded the winter coccolithophore bloom, and the mass DOC production was probably attributed to the excretion and lysis of the non-calcified phytoplankton cells.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maxim Rakhuba, Alexander Novikov, Ivan Oseledets〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Such problems as computation of spectra of spin chains and vibrational spectra of molecules can be written as 〈em〉high-dimensional eigenvalue problems〈/em〉, i.e., when the eigenvector can be naturally represented as a multidimensional tensor. Tensor methods have proven to be an efficient tool for the approximation of solutions of high-dimensional eigenvalue problems, however, their performance deteriorates quickly when the number of eigenstates to be computed increases. We address this issue by designing a new algorithm motivated by the ideas of 〈em〉Riemannian optimization〈/em〉 (optimization on smooth manifolds) for the approximation of multiple eigenstates in the 〈em〉tensor-train format〈/em〉, which is also known as matrix product state representation. The proposed algorithm is implemented in TensorFlow, which allows for both CPU and GPU parallelization.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chen Liu, Florian Frank, Faruk O. Alpak, Béatrice Rivière〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Permeability estimation of porous media from directly solving the Navier–Stokes equations has a wide spectrum of applications in petroleum industry. In this paper, we utilize a pressure-correction projection algorithm in conjunction with the interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin scheme for space discretization to build an incompressible Navier–Stokes simulator and to use this simulator to calculate permeability of real rock samples. The proposed method is accurate, numerically robust, and exhibits the potential for tackling realistic problems.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Marine Systems, Volume 199〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuanyi Li, Huan Feng, Haiwen Zhang, Jian Sun, Dekui Yuan, Lei Guo, Jing Nie, Jinglong Du〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The time required for water exchange characterizes the hydrodynamic condition of a water body, which is related to its self-purification ability. In this study, a numerical model based on a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model is established and implemented to calculate the age of water. Using the model, the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of the age of the water discharged into the New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) Harbor from the Passaic River and the Hackensack River are calculated. The hydrodynamic conditions and the characteristics of water exchange in the harbor are analyzed from the perspective of age. The results indicate that the monthly-averaged age at the entrance of the NY/NJ Harbor is approximately 26 days and 40 days during the wet season and the dry season, respectively. River discharge has a significant impact on the spatial distribution of water age in the NY/NJ Harbor. Generally, high river discharge results in better water exchange and flushes contaminants out of the harbor quickly. However, discharges from several rivers flowing into the harbor interact and interfere with one another. Such interactions can improve or inhibit water and contaminant flushing from the harbor. The analysis of age variations and residual flows indicates that the Kill van Kull is one of the key channels controlling the contaminant transport and water quality in the Newark Bay. This study demonstrates the advantages of using water age to study the water exchange and physical self-purification ability of this complex harbor.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mustapha Malek, Nouh Izem, M. Shadi Mohamed, Mohammed Seaid, Omar Laghrouche〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉An efficient partition of unity finite element method for three-dimensional transient diffusion problems is presented. A class of multiple exponential functions independent of time variable is proposed to enrich the finite element approximations. As a consequence of this procedure, the associated matrix for the linear system is evaluated once at the first time step and the solution is obtained at subsequent time step by only updating the right-hand side of the linear system. This results in an efficient numerical solver for transient diffusion equations in three space dimensions. Compared to the conventional finite element methods with 〈em〉h〈/em〉-refinement, the proposed approach is simple, more efficient and more accurate. The performance of the proposed method is assessed using several test examples for transient diffusion in three space dimensions. We present numerical results for a transient diffusion equation with known analytical solution to quantify errors for the new method. We also solve time-dependent diffusion problems in complex geometries. We compare the results obtained using the partition of unity finite element method to those obtained using the standard finite element method. It is shown that the proposed method strongly reduces the necessary number of degrees of freedom to achieve a prescribed accuracy.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lahbib Bourhrara〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This document presents a new numerical scheme dealing with the Boltzmann transport equation. This scheme is based on the expansion of the angular flux in a truncated spherical harmonics function and the discontinuous finite element method for the spatial variable. The advantage of this scheme lies in the fact that we can deal with unstructured, non-conformal and curved meshes. Indeed, it is possible to deal with distorted regions whose boundary is constituted by edges that can be either line segments or circular arcs or circles. In this document, we detail the derivation of the method for 2D geometries. However, the generalization to 2D extruded geometries is trivial.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Icarus〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kandis-Lea Jessup, Emmanuel Marcq, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Franklin P. Mills, Sanjay Limaye, Anthony Roman〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) observations were obtained on 3 dates in December 2010 and January 2011 recording the cloud top properties over Aphrodite Terra and a low elevation region downwind of Aphrodite through LSTs extending from 7 to 11 a.m. From these data we trace the cloud top sulfur-oxide chemistry and UV albedo sensitivity to LST, latitude and topography. Above regions co-located in LST and latitude, albedo variations observed at 245 nm parallel those observed at 365 nm-following the pattern expected from Hadley cell circulation. However, darkening of the cloud top albedo at LSTs between 9.5 and 11 h beyond that expected from simple Hadley circulation was also observed. Above the plains the albedo darkening intensified rapidly with LST and was observed at latitudes extending as high as ~30 N; however, above the mountains the darkening was either entirely absent or evident only at 0 N at an intensity 2× lower than that observed over the plains. Because the observed 245 nm albedo LST variations were inconsistent with that expected from multiple scattering of the coincidently retrieved SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 gas abundance, we conclude that the 245 nm albedo is diagnostic of the vertical and spatial distribution, abundance (and potentially the identity) of Venus' unidentified UV absorber—rather than SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 gas. The LST albedo trends are best explained by the onset of subsolar convective activity that intensifies with LST expanding vertically from the boundary between the middle and upper clouds to the cloud tops and increasing the detectability of the unknown absorbing species at the cloud tops. The terrain dependence in the observed intensity implies the time at which the expansion reaches the cloud tops is later above the mountains than over the plains. Additionally, at the time of observation, the low-latitude large-scale vertical mixing rates that control the latitudinal gradients of the SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and unknown absorber abundances above and within the cloud top region were lower over Aphrodite Terra than the plains, to the extent that photochemical processing destroyed the spatial correlation between those absorbing species. These observations show the power of UV spectroscopy to diagnose the distinct influences of deep (Hadley-cell type) and shallow convective mixing processes on the vertical and horizontal distribution of Venus' unknown absorbing species, and the sensitivity of these processes to LST and topography, relative to the sulfur oxide chemistry. These results are essential for accurate climate modeling—and when compared to recent Venus missions motivate a need for additional follow-on observing campaigns that simultaneously trace key cloud top chemistry and dynamic processes including the LST dependent evolution of planetary scale gravity waves (GWs). With the inevitable aging of the Hubble Telescope, follow-on observations providing temporally coincident traces of the cloud top albedo, sulfur-oxide chemistry and GW features will require a new age of space-based telescopes and Venus orbiting mission with sensitivity to UV, visible and IR wavelengths.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 340〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ananda Shastri, Deborah Watson, Qing-Ping Ding, Yuji Furukawa, Steve W. Martin〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈sup〉23〈/sup〉Na NMR spin lattice relaxation times, T〈sub〉1〈/sub〉, and central linewidths were obtained for yNa〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S + (1 − y)[xSiS〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 + (1 − x)PS〈sub〉5/2〈/sub〉] glassy solid electrolytes for two series of glasses, y = 0.5 and 0.67, and x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. No pronounced mixed glass former effect in the activation energy was observed within experimental uncertainty for either series of glasses. Energy barriers to sodium motion were calculated using the Anderson-Stuart model for the y = 0.67 sample, and the results suggested that the energy barriers as a function of composition are strongly influenced by the dielectric constant of these glasses. DC Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion conductivity values calculated using NMR-derived correlation times, an available Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion site coordination number in the range z = 3–4, and an energy cutoff determined from the critical percolation threshold, were in agreement with the increasing trend in the experimental values for the y = 0.67 glasses. Using the same model, the conductivity values were calculated for the y = 0.50 glasses, which have as yet to be measured, and these revealed a decreasing conductivity as x increased. Sodium NMR second moment studies showed that the cation spatial arrangement followed a homogeneous distribution for y = 0.50 and 0.67 samples over most of the composition range, but deviated significantly away from this above a sodium concentration of 1.85 × 10〈sup〉28〈/sup〉 m〈sup〉-3〈/sup〉, suggesting a tendency for sodium to cluster under these conditions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 340〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shyamal K. Das, Thangavelu Palaniselvam, Philipp Adelhelm〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The renewal of research interest in rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries could be seen as a massive boost for the exploration of Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉-ion electroactive electrode materials in recent times. Titanium dioxide (TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) is less explored but could be a promising electrode material for aluminum-ion battery. Here, we demonstrate the rechargeability of an Al-ion cell with anatase TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 as cathode in chloroaluminate ionic liquid electrolyte. The Al-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 cell exhibited excellent long-term stability with maximum specific capacity of 25 mAh g〈sup〉−〈/sup〉〈sup〉1〈/sup〉 at current rate of 500 mA g〈sup〉−〈/sup〉〈sup〉1〈/sup〉 at room temperature. The electroactive nature of TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 in the chloroaluminate electrolyte is clearly demonstrated both by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling studies. The synergistic effect of current collector in improving the long-term stability of Al-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 cell is also revealed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Ocean Modelling, Volume 140〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Oleg Druzhinin, Yuliya Troitskaya, Wu-ting Tsai, Po-chen Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The present study is concerned with direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent air flow over a waved water surface. Three-dimensional, turbulent Couette flow is considered in DNS as a model of a constant-flux layer in the marine atmospheric surface layer. Two-dimensional stationary waves at the water surface are prescribed and assumed to be unaffected by the air-flow. We consider capillary-gravity water surface waves and are interested in the influence of “parasitic” capillary ripples riding on the carrier, energy-containing waves, on the properties of the air-flow. The surface waves are prescribed and considered to be stationary, the capillaries being in phase with the carrier wave. The surface elevations spectra are also prescribed and mimicking stationary capillaries riding on Stokes waves observed in a 2D numerical simulation of water-surface capillary-gravity waves by Hung & Tsai (2009). The bulk air velocity and the carrier water surface waves lengths are considered in our DNS in the range of 3 to 5 m/s and 3 to 7 cm, respectively. Under these conditions, the capillaries are found to be submerged within the viscous sublayer of the atmospheric boundary layer. Our DNS results show that although the flow fields are characterized by instantaneous separations of the boundary layer, the ensemble (wave-phase) averaged flow fields are non-separating and well predicted by a quasilinear theoretical model. We find also that capillaries mitigate the development of coherent (horse-shoe) vortex structures as compared to the no-ripples flow-case. We further use DNS results and quasilinear model formulation to parameterize the water surface roughness height in terms of critical layer thickness and the amplitude of a dominant, energy-containing harmonic of the water surface elevation spectrum.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hiral D. Shah, J.A. Bhalodia〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this communication, we report the structural and electrical transport properties of (1-〈em〉x〈/em〉) La〈sub〉0.7〈/sub〉Sr〈sub〉0.3〈/sub〉Mn〈sub〉0.95〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉0.05〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 (LSMCO) + (〈em〉x〈/em〉) ZnO (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0%, 6%, 9%, 12%, 15% & 18%) composites. For the preparation of (1-〈em〉x〈/em〉) LSMCO + (〈em〉x〈/em〉) ZnO (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 6%, 9%, 12%, 15% & 18%) composites, sample of LSMCO was prepared by the auto combustion technique/inexpensive modified sol-gel technique. The results of Rietveld refined XRD data show that LSMCO sample possesses a rhombohedral structure with the 〈em〉R-3c〈/em〉 space group whereas ZnO compound remains with hexagonal structure with the 〈em〉P6〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉3〈/em〉〈/sub〉〈em〉mc〈/em〉 space group in all the composite samples. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that no any extra unwanted phase was observed in each composite excluding the LSMCO and ZnO phases. ZnO is mostly distributed at the grain boundaries and on the surface of the LSMCO grains. Elemental presence and ratio was confirmed through the EDX analysis. The electrical resistivity of LSMCO and each composite was measured in the temperature range of 2 K–320 K at 0 Oe, 10 kOe, 50 kOe & 90 kOe magnetic field. The results indicate that the ZnO addition increases the resistivity of all the composites compare to that of pure LSMCO. The electrical resistivity explored by the theoretical model below 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉MI〈/sub〉 and fitting enlightenment for the observed behavior is transmitted here in detail.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dezhi Yang, Weihua Liu, Dingfu Cheng, Jieshi Chen, Hao Lu, Chun Yu, Jijin Xu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉(Co, Cr)23C6 type carbide is a typical metallic compound in many cobalt bearing alloys, and it acts as the strengthening phase in the form of bulk eutectic carbides or precipitated carbides. In this work, first-principles calculations were carried out to investigate the electronic structure, phase stability, mechanical and magnetic properties of (Co, Cr)23C6 with different cobalt occupation. Some of the calculated values are compared with previous studies and, they are found to be in a good agreement. The method considering curvature radius is firstly used to describe the degree of anisotropy. The hardness calculated through elastic constants presents an approximate downtrend with the cobalt concentration. Analysis of the density of states (DOS), overlapped population and electron density maps, indicates that the bonds in (Co, Cr)23C6 are the mixture of covalent, ionic and metallic bonds, the interactions of 〈em〉d-d〈/em〉 orbits between metallic atoms contribute most to the hybridization mode. According to the population analysis, the reduction in hardness can attribute to the increase of metallicity and iconicity of the interacted metallic atoms. In addition, the formation of a large quantity of antibonding also plays a negative role in intrinsic hardness of (Co, Cr)23C6 when massive substitution of cobalt atom.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Morteza Alizadeh, Andisheh Shakery, Erfan Salahinejad〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this research, the structure and mechanical properties of 1050 aluminum strips reinforced with E-glass fibers, processed by the cross accumulative roll bonding (CARB) process, were investigated from microscopic, hardness, tensile and peeling viewpoints. The results indicated that the incorporation of the glass fibers in the Al matrix increases strength and micro-hardness but decreases elongation. In addition, it was realized that some of these fibers are broken and changed to short fibers during the CARB process. The presence of the glass fibers strongly also reduces the bond efficiency of the Al strips, typically from 50% to 5%. To compensate this deleterious effect, it was found that at least 25% should be increased to the normal thickness reduction used in CRAB.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ahmet Hilmi Deringöl, Esra Mete Güneyisi〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study investigates the influence of the friction pendulum bearing (FPB) isolator characteristics on the nonlinear response of the buildings under various seismic excitations. To represent a wide range of assessment, 3, 6, and 9-storey steel framed buildings with twenty seven different isolation models of FPB were studied by identifying the local and global deformations. Three important parameters such as isolation period T (as 2, 2.5, and 3 s), effective damping ratio ß (as 0.05, 0.15, 0.25), and yield strength ratio Fy/W (as 0.025, 0.05, and 0.10) were used in the modelling of FPB. Two-dimensional model of the base-isolated steel frames were created and the nonlinear time history analysis was performed through a number of earthquake ground motions. The behaviour of the isolated frames was measured by the variation of isolator displacement, roof drift ratio, relative displacement, interstorey drift ratio, absolute acceleration, base shear, base moment, hysteretic curve, and dissipated energy. The benefits obtained through the adoption of the base isolation system were discussed. It was found that the seismic response of the base-isolated frames could be estimated accurately by adjusting the proper isolation period, yield strength ratio, and effective damping ratio for the case studied structures.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jinbao Yao, Rutao Zhao, Nan Zhang, Dujuan Yang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉An in-filled trench barrier is usually used to reduce the damages from train-induced environmental vibrations. To find the vibration isolation effect of an in-filled trench barrier, this paper analyses the reflection coefficients and transmission coefficients of the Rayleigh wave at the interface between in-filled trenches and the soil. In our calculation formulas of ground vibrations, a single point and a single frequency excitation, as well as multi-point and multi-frequency excitation, are simultaneously derived in a soil-in-filled-trench system.〈/p〉 〈p〉Using these formulas and a numerical analysis, the effects of an in-filled trench barrier on the environmental vibrations induced by running trains are analyzed. The results show that the reflection coefficients increase, while the transmission coefficients decrease, with the density and elastic modulus of the in-filled material. The vibration isolation effect is clearly better than that without trenches. In a certain width range, the transmission coefficient and vertical acceleration levels decrease with the increase of trench width. The influences of the transmission coefficient and the vibration isolation effects are not clear with the trenches’ depth variation. The vertical vibrations of the ground pick-up point are all smaller than those without in-filled trenches.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Benshun Shao, Stephen A. Mahin, Victor Zayas〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉By interpreting the seismic responses of two seismically isolated low-rise case-study buildings probabilistically using FEMA P695 methodology, the study indicates for the design of seismically isolated structures, providing isolator capacities equal to risk-targeted maximum considered earthquake (MCE〈sub〉R〈/sub〉) demand does not achieve targeted levels of reliability specified in ASCE 7–16. To do so, isolation system capacities beyond average MCE〈sub〉R〈/sub〉 demand are required. The minimum required capacities for using three types of enhanced isolation system (isolator without displacement restraint, isolator combined with external hard-stopping mechanism, and isolator with internal stiffening behavior at large horizontal displacement) are calculated with nonlinear response history analysis following probabilistic framework for different design risk categories numerically. The results indicate that isolator displacement capacities ranging from 1.5 to 2.60 times the average MCE〈sub〉R〈/sub〉 demand and isolation system shear capacities ranging from 1.5 to 5 times the average MCE〈sub〉R〈/sub〉 demand are required, depending on seismic risk categories and isolation system types. The use of an isolator with internal stiffening behavior is an efficient option to provide the required capacities for achieving reliability goals, especially for high risk-category design.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jeonghoon Han, Changwoo Bae, Songhwa Chae, Dukhyun Choi, Sangmin Lee, Youngsuk Nam, Choongyeop Lee〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Here we introduce the new approach to high-efficiency power generation from a salinity difference using conventional nanoporous Nafion membrane. When access areas on each side of nanoporous Nafion membrane are set to be asymmetric, the ratio of ionic current upon a voltage bias of the different polarity also becomes asymmetric, resulting in ionic diode phenomena. When this geometrical ionic diode effect is combined with a salinity gradient, it can help significantly improve the energy conversion efficiency from a salinity difference even under a hyper-saline environment with a large salinity difference, e.g. ∼41% conversion efficiency and ∼120 nW power generation with 1 M KCl and 1000-fold salinity difference, both of which are comparable with the best performances reported in the previous studies. We propose that the decrease in ion concentration polarization at a low salt concentration side is responsible for the enhanced power generation with the membrane having asymmetric access areas. Our approach is simple to implement and can be applicable to any nanoporous membrane to enhance the power generation from a salinity difference.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jialun Chen, Ping Tong, Lingting Huang, Zhonghua Yu, Dianping Tang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉An interdigitated capacitance immunosensing system based enzymatic biocatalytic precipitation on micro-comb electrode was designed for the sensitive detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by coupling Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉C〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 MXenes with tyramine signal amplification strategy. The immunosensor was prepared by immobilizing anti-PSA capture antibody on MXenes-coated interdigitated electrode, whereas gold nanoparticles heavily functionalized with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and detection antibody were utilized as the signal-transducer tags. Introduction of interdigitated electrode was expected to enhance the sensitivity of capacitance immunosensor. This system mainly consisted of the sandwich-type immunoreaction, formation of tyramine-HRP repeats on gold nanoparticle and enzymatic biocatalytic precipitation. The concatenated HRP through the tyramine oxidized numerous 4-chloro-1-naphthol molecules into insoluble benzo-4-chlorohexadienone with the help of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, and coated the modified immunosensor to keep free ions away from the electrode, thus causing the local alteration in the capacitance. Under optimum conditions, the change of the immunosensor in the capacitance increased with the increasing target PSA concentrations from 0.1 ng mL〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 to 50 ng mL〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at a detection limit of 0.031 ng mL〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Moreover, the interdigitated capacitance immunosensor showed good reproducibility, high specificity and acceptable accuracy for the analysis of human serum specimens in comparison with those obtained from commercial human PSA ELISA kit. Importantly, Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉C〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 MXenes-based interdigitated capacitance transducer open new opportunities for protein diagnostics and biosecurity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhixu Jian, Honglei Li, Rui Cao, Heliang Zhou, Huaizhe Xu, Guangjin Zhao, Yalan Xing, Shichao Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Confining the dissolution and diffusion of polysulfide is considered a key factor in the realization of high-performance lithium-sulfur battery. Here, we report a polydopamine (pDA) coated sulfur-carbon composite with a unique hierarchical tower-like structure (S-HTC@pDA) for lithium sulfur cathode. The internal layer by layer structure is capable of uniformly dispersing of sulfur, providing a continuous electronic conductive path and shortening the Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 transport distance, while the external pDA coating can inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide. Benefited from the smart design, the S-HTC@pDA electrode achieved an excellent cycling stability, realizing a high discharge capacity of 916 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at the first cycle and a capacity retention of 79.4% after 500 cycles at 1 C. Therefore, this work provides a new concept in structure design for high performance lithium sulfur cathodes.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Here, we report a polydopamine (pDA) coated sulfur-carbon composite with a unique hierarchical tower-like structure (S-HTC@pDA) for lithium sulfur cathode. The internal layer by layer structure is capable of uniformly dispersing of sulfur, providing a continuous electronic conductive path and shortening the Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 transport distance, while the external pDA coating can inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide.〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619312885-fx1.jpg" width="326" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solar Energy, Volume 188〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Naser Abdi, Yaser Abdi, Zahra Alemipour〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Applied Geophysics, Volume 169〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhiqu Lu, Glenn V. Wilson, Mark W. Shankle〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉For soil exploration in the vadose zone, a high-frequency multi-channel analysis of surface waves (HF-MASW) method with three enhanced techniques has been developed. In this paper, we apply this enhanced HF-MASW method to re-process field testing data that were collected over the past several years on five different sites. These sites are selected for their different soil properties and data acquisition configurations. The derived overtone images, extracted dispersion curves, and inverted soil profiles of these soil sites are shown and discussed. Penetration tests were conducted and comparisons are made between the soil profiles taken from the HF-MASW tests and those from the penetration tests. One of the objectives of the paper is to determine the optimal data acquisition parameters, including the source parameters and sensor array geometric configuration through the discussions of these case studies. Practical concerns of the HF-MASW method and lessons learnt from these tests are addressed. Recommendations for data acquisition, signal processing, and inversion are provided.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solar Energy, Volume 188〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Smajil Halilovic, Jamie M. Bright, Wiebke Herzberg, Sven Killinger〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Knowledge of horizontal solar irradiance is crucial for the nowcasting and forecasting of generated photovoltaic (PV) power. High quality irradiance measurement devices, however, are typically not collocated with PV systems. The lack of measurements can be compensated by numerical weather models or satellite-derived products, but they provide only limited temporal and spatial resolutions. Another possibility is to directly use PV systems as irradiance sensors, since the measured PV power is a good indicator of incoming solar irradiance. The challenging part in this procedure is the computation of the global horizontal irradiance 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si233.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉G〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉h〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/msub〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 from the global tilted irradiance 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si234.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉G〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉c〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/msub〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉, because a combination of decomposition and transposition models is not analytically invertible. Hence, the majority of existing solutions to this problem are numerical procedures. In this paper, an analytical approach to compute 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si235.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉G〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉h〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/msub〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 from 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si236.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉G〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉c〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/msub〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 is presented. The comparison of the proposed approach with one of the existing iterative (numerical) approaches shows promising results. When applied to 1-min data at four different locations, the new approach outperforms the iterative procedure by up to 9% in terms of the relative root mean square error (rRMSE) for east/west module’s orientations, and performs slightly better with the south orientation. Moreover, the new approach provides results in less than 1 s, whereas the iterative procedure requires more than 20 min for a one year of data. An open source R-script of the new approach is also publicly available and provided as supplementary material.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 523〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuichiro Hayashi, Takeshi Mitani, Naoyoshi Komatsu, Tomohisa Kato, Hajime Okumura〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We investigated the surface roughening in 4H-SiC solution growth from the following two aspects: the roughening of the seed surface before seeding and the roughening caused by the adhesion of SiC particles during growth. First, we investigated the morphological changes of the seed surface before and after the melt-back process. The seed surface just before seeding was covered with macrosteps and 6H-SiC hillocks with a height of several micrometers. This surface roughening was caused by condensation of droplets of vaporized solvent on the seed surface. We found that the 6H-SiC hillocks were the origins of trench defects. The melt-back process completely removed the hillocks and produced a smooth surface adequate for successive bulk growth. Second, we investigated surface roughening caused by the formation of SiC particles. The adhesion of SiC particles on the growth surface introduced trench defects and polytype inclusions. The adhesion of SiC particles was suppressed by controlling the distribution of carbon supersaturation in the solvent.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Applied Geophysics, Volume 169〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rakoto Heritiana A., Rajaomahefasoa Riva, Razafiarisera Ralay, Razafindrakoto Boni〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Multiple electrical geophysical survey techniques were used to evaluate the flaky graphite reserves found along the east coast of Madagascar. Self-potential (SP) combined with induced polarization (IP) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) methods were applied and provide information about the graphite ore spatial distribution. Unlike conventional geophysical survey methods that use SP and electromagnetic (EM) methods for exploration of this type of metal, the addition of IP and ERT offers a geoelectrical map and section which indicate correlations with the graphite content.〈/p〉 〈p〉The obtained SP map enabled us to delineate the mineralized area whereas the geoelectrical sections obtained from ERT and IP provide additional information on the vertical extent of the mineral of interest, in this case flake-graphite. We overlaid the graphite content, as measured on samples, on the SP map in order to verify the effectiveness of the geophysical methodology. Good correlation between negative SP anomalies and positive indication of graphite content confirms that the methods used in this study (SP, ERT and IP) are sensitive for delineation of the mineralized zone and consequent evaluation of the ore reserve. Resistivity and chargeability obtained from the inversion of the ERT/IP data are low and high, respectively, within the saturated zone inside SP-anomalous zones.〈/p〉 〈p〉The principal ore body is located in the lateritic zone composed of clay-rich formations derived from the weathering of gneiss and migmatite rocks. Negative SP anomalies, along with low electrical resistivity and high chargeability values, are found mainly in areas where the graphitic content exceeds 5%.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes, Volume 1861, Issue 8〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease, Volume 1865, Issue 10〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tomonaga Ichikawa, Shingo Nakahata, Masahiro Fujii, Hidekatsu Iha, Kazuya Shimoda, Kazuhiro Morishita〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a candidate tumor suppressor that is frequently downregulated in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and functions to negatively regulate several cellular signaling pathways as PP2A recruiter. To clarify the molecular mechanisms of suppression of NDRG2 expression, we initially determined the expression pattern of NDRG2 in various types of T-cells and ATLL cells. NDRG2 expression was significantly upregulated in HTLV-1/Tax-immortalized T-cells, which was mediated by NF-κB activation through Tax expression. On the other hand, NDRG2 expression was suppressed in HTLV-1-infected cell lines and various types of ATLL cells, which was dependent on the DNA methylation of the NDRG2 promoter. We found that the expression of enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), a member of the polycomb family, is increased in ATLL, and that EZH2 directly binds to the NDRG2 promoter and induces DNA methylation of the NDRG2 promoter. Since the expression of EZH2 were anti-parallelly regulated with the NDRG2 expression, EZH2 might be one of the most important regulators of the downregulation of NDRG2, contributing to enhanced activation of signaling pathways during ATLL development.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes, Volume 1861, Issue 9〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mariafrancesca Scalise, Michele Galluccio, Lorena Pochini, Jessica Cosco, Miriam Trotta, Manuele Rebsamen, Giulio Superti-Furga, Cesare Indiveri〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The lysosomal amino acid transporter SLC38A9 is referred to as transceptor, i.e. a transporter with a receptor function. The protein is responsible for coupling amino acid transport across the lysosomal membrane according to the substrate availability to mTORC1 signal transduction. This process allows cells to sense amino acid level responding to growth stimuli in physiological and pathological conditions triggering mTOR regulation. The main substrates underlying this function are glutamine and arginine. The functional and kinetic characterization of glutamine and arginine transport was performed using human SLC38A9 produced in 〈em〉E. coli〈/em〉, purified by affinity chromatography and reconstituted in liposomes. A cooperative behaviour for the wild type protein was revealed for both the substrates. A novel Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 binding site, namely T453, was described by combined approaches of bioinformatics, site-directed mutagenesis and transport assay. Stimulation by cholesterol of glutamine and arginine transport was observed. The biological function of SLC38A9 relies on the interaction between its N-terminus and components of the mTOR complex; a deletion mutant of the N-terminus tail was produced and transport of glutamine was assayed revealing that this portion does not play any role in the intrinsic transport function of the human SLC38A9. Different features for glutamine and arginine transport were revealed: human SLC38A9 is competent for glutamine efflux, while that of arginine is negligible. In line with these results, imposed ∆pH stimulated glutamine, not arginine transport. Arginine plays, on the contrary, a modulatory function and is able to stimulate glutamine efflux. Interestingly, reciprocal inhibition experiments also supported by bioinformatics, suggested that glutamine and arginine may bind to different sites in the human SLC38A9 transporter.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Proteoliposome reconstitution of hSLC38A9 WT and mutants.〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0005273619301567-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, Volume 1863, Issue 9〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shuangdong Chen, Yixiao Gu, Qinxue Dai, Yanshu He, Junlu Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Sirtuin1 (SIRT1), which is regulated by microRNA-34a (miR-34a), can modulate pathophysiology processes, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury. We previously reported that SIRT1, an NAD〈sup〉+〈/sup〉-dependent deacetylase, plays a vital role in the development of neuropathic pain. However, the role of miR-34a/SIRT1 in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain remains unclear. In the present study, we examined miR-34a and SIRT1 in CFA mice. MiR-34a levels increased, while SIRT1 decreased in the spinal cord. Inhibiting miR-34a by intrathecal injection of miR-34a antagomir attenuated CFA-induced pain behavior. Moreover, miR-34a antagomir inhibited the CFA-induced SIRT1 decrease in the spinal cord. Furthermore, the analgesic effect of miR-34a antagomir was abrogated by the SIRT1 inhibitor EX-527. Our data provide support that the underlying mechanisms of miR-34a in promoting inflammatory pain may involve negative regulation of SIRT1.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes, Volume 1861, Issue 9〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Oumaima Et-Thakafy, Fanny Guyomarc'h, Christelle Lopez〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The biological membrane surrounding milk fat globules (MFGM) exhibits lateral phase separation of lipids, interpreted as gel or liquid-ordered phase sphingomyelin-rich (milk SM) domains dispersed in a fluid continuous lipid phase. The objective of this study was to investigate whether changes in the phase state of milk SM-rich domains induced by temperature (T 〈 Tm or T 〉 Tm) or cholesterol affected the Young modulus of the lipid membrane. Supported lipid bilayers composed of MFGM polar lipids, milk SM or milk SM/cholesterol (50:50 mol) were investigated at 20 °C and 50 °C using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and force spectroscopy. At 20 °C, gel-phase SM-rich domains and the surrounding fluid phase of the MFGM polar lipids exhibited Young modulus values of 10–20 MPa and 4–6 MPa, respectively. Upon heating at 50 °C, the milk SM-rich domains in MFGM bilayers as well as pure milk SM bilayers melted, leading to the formation of a homogeneous membrane with similar Young modulus values to that of a fluid phase (0–5 MPa). Upon addition of cholesterol to the milk SM to reach 50:50 mol%, membranes in the liquid-ordered phase exhibited Young modulus values of a few MPa, at either 20 or 50 °C. This indicated that the presence of cholesterol fluidized milk SM membranes and that the Young modulus was weakly affected by the temperature. These results open perspectives for the development of milk polar lipid based vesicles with modulated mechanical properties.〈/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-S0005273619301555-ga1.jpg" width="317" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Communications, Volume 300〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jayeeta Chowdhury, Sachindra Nath Karmakar〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this paper we have introduced a new method based on real space renormalization group technique to find the density of states of three dimensional quasiperiodic lattices in the thermodynamic limit. The importance of this method lies in the fact that for three dimensional quasiperiodic lattices in this limit, no other technique is available in the literature for the density of states till now. Finding the density of states, we have also studied the electronic specific heat of such lattices and revealed the nature of temperature dependence of the specific heat.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Ultramicroscopy, Volume 206〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): P. Kükelhan, T. Hepp, S. Firoozabadi, A. Beyer, K. Volz〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Quantitative scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is a powerful tool for the characterization of nano-materials. Absolute composition determination for ternary III–V semiconductors by direct comparison of experiment and simulation is well established. Here, we show a method to determine the composition of quaternary III–V semiconductors with two elements on each sub lattice from the intensities of one STEM image. As an example, this is applied to (GaIn)(AsBi). The feasibility of the method is shown in a simulation study that also explores the influence of detector angles and specimen thickness. Additionally, the method is applied to an experimental STEM image of a (GaIn)(AsBi) quantum well grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. The obtained concentrations are in good agreement with X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence results.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): J.Y. Oh, Tien M. Le, A.T. Pham, D.H. Tran, D.S. Yang, B. Kang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, we investigated a correlation between superconductivity and interlayer coupling of two different alkaline (Na and K)-substituted Bi〈sub〉1·6〈/sub〉Pb〈sub〉0·4〈/sub〉Sr〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Ca〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Cu〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉10+δ〈/sub〉 (BSCCO) polycrystalline samples. The excess conductivity analysis by the Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) and Lawrence-Doniach (LD) theories showed that Na substitution at the Ca site induced a gradual broadening of 3D fluctuation region with increasing interlayer coupling strength, which explains a systematic increase of 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉c〈/em〉〈/sub〉 and a decrease of normal state resistivity. On the other hand, exactly the opposite results were observed in the K-substituted samples in place of Sr. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies revealed that substitution of Na and K generated completely different effects on the local structure around Cu atoms. It is noticeable that the Cu–O bond distance was found to decrease monotonically with the varying amounts of Na, which indicates that the CuO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 layer is stabilized. On the while, the opposite was observed to occur with the varying amounts of K. Unlike the Cu–Ca bond which was the least affected by the substitution, the Cu–Sr bond distance increased drastically with K substitution. All these findings indicate that Na substitution at the Ca site enhances superconductivity with no loss of interlayer interaction, while K substitution at the Sr site weakens superconductivity due to the diminished interlayer interaction.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Moara M. Castro, Shima Sabbaghianrad, Pedro Henrique R. Pereira, Eric M. Mazzer, Augusta Isaac, Terence G. Langdon, Roberto B. Figueiredo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A magnesium/aluminium composite was produced by room temperature consolidation through high-pressure torsion (HPT) processing. Half-discs of the pure metals were placed side-by-side and subjected to different numbers of turns. The initially reduced interface between the phases gradually increased with increasing rotation. The composite displayed a significant ductility even after 10 turns. The distribution of hardness in the HPT-processed discs was bi-modal in the early stages of processing. As the number of turns increased and the thickness of the phases decreased there was a noticeable increase in hardness. The hardness values of the composite further increased after thermal treatment due to the formation of intermetallics within the interface between the magnesium and aluminium-rich phases.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lipeng Xu, Fei Zhou, Jizhou Kong, Haobin Zhou, Qian Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The effects of testing temperature on the electrochemical properties of Li(Ni〈sub〉0.6〈/sub〉Mn〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉)O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 are investigated in detail. When the testing temperature is 40 °C, the Li(Ni〈sub〉0.6〈/sub〉Mn〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉)O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 cathode material possesses the highest initial discharge capacity of 162.4 mAh·g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5C rate, but their cycling stability decreases markedly. When the test temperature rises up to 60 °C, the side reaction between electrolyte and cathode material becomes serious, and the Li(Ni〈sub〉0.6〈/sub〉Mn〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉)O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 cannot work. When the testing temperature decreases, the electrochemical impedances like R〈sub〉ct〈/sub〉 values increase, and then the discharge capacity at 0 °C, −10 °C and −20 °C is only 80%, 53% and 23% of that at 25 °C. Based on the electrochemical impedance spectra at different temperatures, four kinds of equivalent circuit models are classified. The cycle and rate performance of Li(Ni〈sub〉0.6〈/sub〉Mn〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉0.2〈/sub〉)O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 cathode material could be improved obviously through Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉C〈sub〉2〈/sub〉(OH)〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 modification in an extreme environment, and especially in sub-zero environment.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kenji Yoshii, Naoshi Ikeda〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Dielectric and magnetocaloric measurements are carried out for the chromite TmCrO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉. This oxide was reported to be multiferroic below the Néel temperature (〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉N〈/sub〉) of ∼125 K, likely due to a structural transformation. The dielectric response shows large dielectric constants below 300 K. However, from the analyses of loss tangent, AC conductivity and dielectric modulus, this behavior is rooted in hopping of charge carriers rather than electric dipoles, as proposed for some other chromites. No dielectric anomaly is found at 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉N〈/sub〉. The magnetocaloric effect shows that the magnetic transitions at 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉N〈/sub〉 as well as the spin reorientation temperature are of a second order. This result strongly suggests the absence of magnetostructural transition at 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉N〈/sub〉 in accord with no observation of ferroelectric transition at this temperature.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rattiya Hongtong, Panya Thanwisai, Rattakarn Yensano, Jeffrey Nash, Sutham Srilomsak, Nonglak Meethong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Core-shell olivine-type electrospun and doped LiFePO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/FeS/C composite fibers were synthesized via a single-step process employing an electrospinning method using LiOH·H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O, metal sul phates, H〈sub〉3〈/sub〉PO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, citric acid, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the starting materials. Electron microscopy studies showed that the mean diameter of the core-shell composite fibers was about 280 ± 20 nm with a LiFePO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 phase forming a core with a diameter of about 100 ± 20 nm and a carbon shell with a thickness of 80 ± 20 nm. An FeS phase was formed by a direct reduction of iron (II) sulfate (FeSO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) that was evenly distributed within the core region of the composite fibers and further improved the electronic conductivity of the fibers. Na〈sup〉1+〈/sup〉, Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉, and Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 doping ions affected fiber morphology and electrochemical performance. All composite fibers showed excellent electrochemical performance. However, Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions improved the electrochemical performance of the composite fibers to a significantly greater degree than Na〈sup〉1+〈/sup〉 and Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 doping ions, increasing the electronic and ionic conductivities of the material while maintaining their core-shell composite fiber characteristics.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Electrospun LiFePO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/FeS/C and 5% doped 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉L〈/mi〉〈mi〉i〈/mi〉〈mi〉F〈/mi〉〈msubsup〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉e〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈mo linebreak="badbreak"〉−〈/mo〉〈mrow〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉(〈/mo〉〈mi〉n〈/mi〉〈mi〉x〈/mi〉〈mo linebreak="badbreak"〉/〈/mo〉〈mn〉2〈/mn〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉)〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mn〉2〈/mn〉〈mo linebreak="badbreak"〉+〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/msubsup〉〈msubsup〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉M〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉x〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉n〈/mi〉〈mo linebreak="badbreak"〉+〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/msubsup〉〈mi〉P〈/mi〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉O〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mn〉4〈/mn〉〈/mrow〉〈/msub〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉/FeS/C (M = Na〈sup〉1+〈/sup〉, Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉, Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉) composites with a unique core-shell structure were synthesized via a simple single-step process to improved electrochemical properties for high performance and low cost Li-ion batteries.〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925838819324946-fx1.jpg" width="287" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): L.V.B. Diop, O. Isnard〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The effects of Fe substitution on the structural and magnetic properties of the HoCo〈sub〉12-〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Fe〈sub〉〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉B〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 (0 ≤ 〈em〉x〈/em〉 ≤ 2) series of intermetallic compounds have been studied. All of the compounds form in the rhombohedral SrNi〈sub〉12〈/sub〉B〈sub〉6〈/sub〉-type structure, the lattice constants increasing linearly with 〈em〉x〈/em〉. These compounds are ferrimagnets with a small transition metal magnetic moment and exhibit a spin reorientation transition. The Curie temperature decreases from 147 K for 〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0–105 K for 〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 2. The Fe for Co substitution leads also to a progressive decrease of the spontaneous magnetization. The spin reorientation transition temperature is significantly reduced upon Fe for Co substitution whereas the compensation temperature is much less sensitive to the Fe composition.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 224〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hayam M. Lotfy, Sarah S. Saleh, Christine M. El-Maraghy〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉An analytical investigation was carried out to study the treatment and amplification of the spectral signals produced by critical concentrations with high accuracy and precision using two advanced approaches. The factorized-spectrum approach was applied through two novel methods which were: absorptivity centering technique via both: factorized zero order absorption spectrum (ACT-FSD〈sup〉0〈/sup〉〈sub〉∆A〈/sub〉) and factorized ratio spectrum (ACT-FSR〈sub〉∆P〈/sub〉). The proposed methods were found to be linear in the ranges of (15–100 μg/mL) and (3–40 μg/mL) for ASP and MTO, respectively. Those methods were compared to the methods following the geometrical standard addition approach: ratio H-point standard addition method (RHPSAM) and geometrical induced amplitude modulation (GIAM). The approaches were applied for the determination of the minor component metoclopramide in its mixture with the major component aspirin in the challengeable ratio of (1,90) respectively in a white multicomponent system. The results obtained from the proposed approaches were statistically compared with each other. The methods were validated according to ICH guidelines where the results were found to be within the acceptable limits. The methods were found to be accurate and reliable for the determination of metoclopramide critical concentration besides aspirin concentration. The results of single factor ANOVA analysis indicated that there is no significant difference among the developed methods. These methods provided simple resolution of this binary combination from synthetic mixtures and pharmaceutical preparation and can be conveniently adopted for routine quality control analysis.〈/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-S1386142519307292-ga1.jpg" width="325" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maxim S. Likhanov, Vladislav O. Zhupanov, Valeriy Yu Verchenko, Andrei A. Gippius, Sergei V. Zhurenko, Alexey V. Tkachev, Dina I. Fazlizhanova, David Berthebaud, Andrei V. Shevelkov〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We present a new Fe〈sub〉1–〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Re〈sub〉〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 solid solution, in which a 5〈em〉d〈/em〉-metal––rhenium––partially substitutes for iron to the limiting composition of 〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0.10. The crystal structure refined for the composition Fe〈sub〉0.91〈/sub〉Re〈sub〉0.09〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 shows the expected increase in the unit cell parameters compared to the parent FeGa〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 compound, however the M–M (M = Fe, Re) distance decreases within the M–M dumbbell, indicating an increased M–M bonding density. Therein, investigation of the local structure by means of 〈sup〉69,71〈/sup〉Ga NQR spectroscopy revealed the formation of homonuclear Fe–Fe and Re–Re dumbbells. Transport and thermoelectric properties have been investigated for the Re-substituted FeGa〈sub〉3〈/sub〉. Electrical transport measurements showed preservation of the nonmetallic conductivity of Fe〈sub〉1–〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Re〈sub〉〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 despite the decrease of the valence electron concentration from 17 to 16.9 electrons per formula. At low temperatures, Fe〈sub〉1–〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Re〈sub〉〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 is a 〈em〉p〈/em〉-type semiconductor with the band gap of 0.4 eV, but with increasing temperature the sign of the dominant charge carriers changes. Owing to the alloying effect, Fe〈sub〉1–〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Re〈sub〉〈em〉x〈/em〉〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 displays 1.5 times lower thermal conductivity than FeGa〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, which increases at high temperatures because of the growing contribution of the electronic term.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925838819325198-fx1.jpg" width="454" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jiashu Zhang, Weiyao Zhao, Zhenjie Feng, Jun-Yi Ge, Jincang Zhang, Shixun Cao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We report the crystal growth, structure analysis and magnetic phase transitions in the single crystal Sm〈sub〉0.15〈/sub〉Dy〈sub〉0.85〈/sub〉FeO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉. The high-quality of the crystal is verified by X-ray diffraction technique. Our research reveals that: 1) the iron sublattice spin reorientation (SR) transition emerges at 25 K, and ends at 10 K; 2) the rare earth antiferromagnetic (AF) order transition happens at 2.6 K; 3) there is a special wasp-waist hysteresis loop at low temperatures. Knowledge of such phase transitions in rare earth orthoferrite system is of potential importance for applications and theoretical studies.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, Volume 235〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): A.S. Komolov, E.F. Lazneva, N.B. Gerasimova, Yu. A. Panina, V.S. Sobolev, A.V. Koroleva, S.A. Pshenichnyuk, N.L. Asfandiarov, A. Modelli, B. Handke, O.V. Borshchev, S.A. Ponomarenko〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The atomic composition and the electronic properties of ultrathin films of the four-conjugated rings thiophene/phenylene co-oligomers end-terminated by the −CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 and by the -CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 radicals vacuum deposited onto the oxidized silicon surface were studied using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and total current spectroscopy (TCS) techniques. The relative concentrations of the C, S and F atoms measured from the film deposits were evaluated and were found to correspond to the chemical formulae of the CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-phenylene-thiophene-thiophene-phenylene−CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 (CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-PTTP−CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉) and CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-phenylene-thiophene-thiophene-phenylene-CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 (CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-PTTP-CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉) molecules studied. The TCS measurements during the increase of the organic layer thickness up to 6 nm on a (SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉)n-Si substrate were used to determine the conduction band peak structure related to the density of the unoccupied electronic states (DOUS) in the range from 5 eV to 22 eV above E〈sub〉F〈/sub〉. DOUS of the films investigated was also obtained theoretically by means of 〈em〉ab initio〈/em〉 calculations. According to the calculations, the energy position of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) peak was found at 4.4 eV in the case of the CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-PTTP−CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 film and at 3.9 eV in the case of the CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-PTTP-CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 film. The effect of fluorine substitution on the DOUS was determined as approximately 2 eV peak shift towards low electron energies in the case of the CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-PTTP-CF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 film compared to the case of the CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-PTTP−CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 film in the electron energy range from 10 eV to 22 eV above E〈sub〉F〈/sub〉 and as a more complex peak restructuring in the energy range from 5 eV to 10 eV above E〈sub〉F〈/sub〉. The DOUS peaks of the two films studied were assigned to molecular orbitals with π* character in the 5–9.5 eV energy range and molecular orbitals with σ* character in the 9.5–22 eV energy range above E〈sub〉F〈/sub〉.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0368204819300726-ga1.jpg" width="476" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuliang Jiang, Xueyan Fu, Zidong Zhang, Wei Du, Peitao Xie, Chuanbing Cheng, Runhua Fan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Carbon nanofibers embedded with magnetic Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉C nanoparticles have been synthesized using electrospinning technique, followed by one-step carbonization. By using Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉C/C nanofibers as filler with 10% content, the sample can achieve a minimum reflection loss (RL) of −54.94 dB with a thickness of 1.36 mm, as well as the broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) can reach to 4.5 GHz (13.3–17.8 GHz) at the thickness of 1.55 mm. The superior properties might be due to the synergistic effects of dielectric loss, magnetic loss, multiple scattering and reflection. This work presents a facile and promising method to produce high performance microwave absorption materials with thin thickness, light weight and strong absorption.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): E.J. Pickering, K.A. Christofidou, H.J. Stone, N.G. Jones〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In order to reduce the environmental impact of air travel, it is desirable that the efficiencies of gas turbine engines are increased. One way to achieve this goal is to increase the operating temperatures of the engine cores. Unfortunately for aero-engine manufacturers, the temperature capability limits of the Ni-base superalloys used currently have been reached. Hence, new alloys need to be developed that are capable of operating at significantly higher temperatures. In this article, the potential of tantalum-base superalloys is discussed and explored. A suite of alloys based on the Ta-Al-Co system was investigated. It was found that an array of fine carbide precipitates was formed in the Ta-rich matrix in a subset of the alloys, which is promising in terms of developing a strong and damage-tolerant microstructure, but that the elemental partitioning of Al out of the matrix accompanying precipitation is likely to degrade environmental resistance. Nevertheless, it is believed that the design principles described have the potential to facilitate the development of the next generation of high-temperature alloys based on systems of this type.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): C.Q. Zhou, Q.A. Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In order to understand the effect of Pr〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉11〈/sub〉 nanoparticles on crystallite growth kinetics of nanocrystalline Mg, the crystallite growth characteristics in a Mg−Pr〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉11〈/sub〉 composite and a pure Mg sample were comparatively investigated in this work. The crystallite growth exponents of nanocrystalline Mg in the Mg−Pr〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉11〈/sub〉 composite and pure Mg were determined as 〈em〉n〈/em〉 = 5 and 〈em〉n〈/em〉 = 4, respectively. Meanwhile, the activation energy for crystallite growth in Mg−Pr〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉11〈/sub〉 composite was calculated to be 118.8 kJ/mol, which is higher than 97.1 kJ/mol in pure nanocrystalline Mg. Further studies reveal that the rise of crystallite growth exponent and increase of activation energy in the Mg−Pr〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉11〈/sub〉 composite are primarily attributed to the pinning effect of Pr〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉11〈/sub〉 nanoparticles at crystallite boundaries of Mg.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Liming Tan, Yunping Li, Wenkai Deng, Yong Liu, Feng Liu, Yan Nie, Liang Jiang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Three Ni-base powder metallurgy superalloys have been developed recently, and tensile tests at temperatures ranging from room temperature (RT) to 815 °C were conducted on them. The results conformed their excellent tensile properties, in comparison with several other existed polycrystalline superalloys. In this work, by means of microstructure characterization, thermal dynamic calculations, and theoretical modeling, different strengthening mechanisms including precipitation strengthening, grain boundary strengthening, solid solution strengthening, and Orowan strengthening, were found to contribute to the yield strength in different degrees, which would help to further enhance the tensile properties of these alloys through composition design and processing optimization thereafter.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925838819324892-fx1.jpg" width="459" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 223〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rui Zhang, Yun Liu, Lin Kong, Xian-Yun Xu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this study, a two photon absorbing (TPA) material consisting silver nanoparticles and triphenylamine-thiol derivative (TBS) has been prepared through interfacial coordination effect according to soft-hard-acid-base principle. The interfacial structure and morphology of the hybrid are researched in detail. Linear and nonlinear optical properties of the hybrid are studied. Upon interfacial coordination, the hybrid shows red-shifted UV–Vis absorption, causing from enhanced electronic drawing strength due to existence of Ag atom. The results also indicate that the surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag nanoparticles (~6 nm) brings about enhancement in single photon fluorescence emission and two photon absorption. Compared with free TBS, Ag-TBS hybrids show higher TPA cross-section (δ), which is 8784 GM for TBS and up to 103876 GM for Ag-TBS hybrid, showing ~12 fold increase. Due to excellent TPA property, the hybrids have good application in the field of optical power limiting and its limiting threshold is 0.49 J/cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉. This type of interfacial coordination induced hybrid provides a promising strategy to regulate linear optical properties and optimize nonlinear performance.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A thiol-Ag nanohybrid has been prepared through interfacial coordination effect and self-assembly process to optimize the TPA performance.〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142519307280-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Atmospheric Environment, Volume 214〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Daniela Polag, Frank Keppler〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Methane (CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) is a potent greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere by various natural and anthropogenic sources. Numerous studies have been conducted to quantify the major and minor CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 sources on spatial and temporal time scales. A minor source of the atmospheric global CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 budget is the direct release of CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 from the living human body. Based on available data from recent publications, for the first time, CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 emissions from human breath and flatus are estimated on a global scale taking into account dominant factors influencing emission, such as age, ethnicity, and gender. Human CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 emissions are compared between preindustrial times (1750), present age (2017) and future prediction (2100) using demographic data based on World Population Prospects 2017 of the United Nations (UN 2017). In preindustrial times the global CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 release by humans is estimated at 34 ± 28 Gg and then substantially increase by a factor of ten reaching 344 ± 255 Gg by 2017. Emissions are estimated to further increase by almost fourfold to a value of 1221 ± 672 Gg by 2100, even though the rise in population is predicted to only increase by 50%. This nonlinear relationship is related to the predicted change in population structure affecting the number of CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 producers. In contrast, for the year 2100 the simplified non-weighted estimation which merely considers the expected increase in population would only account for 612 ± 169 Gg. The discrepancy between the simplified non-weighted and weighted estimations of human CH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 emissions emphasises the importance of factor-based calculations in order to compile more accurate data.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): William J. Freimuth, David J. Varricchio〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We describe the diversity and abundance of insect (specifically hymenopterans and coleopterans) pupation structures in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Two Medicine Formation at the Egg Mountain locality, western Montana, U.S.A., an important dinosaur nesting site. The study interval comprises a massive calcareous siltstone and indurated silty limestone horizons interpreted as the product of cumulative paleosols. A 7 m by 11 m area was quarried with a jackhammer at intervals of 12.5 cm thickness for a 1.5 m thick stratigraphic section. The ichnoassemblage comprises four morphotypes (small, medium, large, and wide) assigned to 〈em〉Fictovichnus sciuttoi〈/em〉, of which three represent wasp (hymenopteran) cocoons while the fourth (wide) type potentially was produced by a coleopteran. Medium and small 〈em〉F. sciuttoi〈/em〉 are dominant while large and wide 〈em〉Fictovichnus〈/em〉 are less common and absent in some sample intervals. Other probable insect traces include partial perforations in cocoons (〈em〉Tombownichnus〈/em〉), isolated burrows, and an enigmatic hemispherical trace. Material is representative of a depauperate 〈em〉Celliforma〈/em〉 ichnofacies. Pervasive cocoons and other traces throughout the sequence suggest persistent soil conditions suitable for insect nesting and pupation, and suggest an absence of sediment pulses of sufficient thickness to prohibit thorough colonization. Peaks in pupation chamber abundance may reflect episodes of reduced sedimentation rates otherwise unseen in the absence of primary bedding structures. Well-drained and friable soil conditions favorable for insect nesting also may help explain the abundance of dinosaur nests and other vertebrate nesting events in associated strata as well as the presence of small terrestrial forms.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Geodynamics, Volume 129〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Ocean Modelling, Volume 139〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 6 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Stacey A. McCormack, Jessica Melbourne-Thomas, Rowan Trebilco, Julia L. Blanchard, Andrew Constable〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In recent years, there has been a shift away from the long-standing paradigm in which a short, krill-dominated food chain was considered to be the central element in Southern Ocean food webs. Instead, there is now increasing recognition that alternative energy pathways through mid-trophic level groups (mesopelagic fish and squid) may be equally (if not more) important than the krill pathway in many regions. Ecosystem models are a valuable tool to synthesise existing data on the structure of marine food webs and to visualise and quantify alternative energy pathways. In this study we develop a static mass balance food web model for the southern Kerguelen Axis region (Prydz Bay and Princess Elizabeth Trough) to evaluate the importance of alternative energy pathways through mid-trophic level groups, including fish, squid and krill, in maintaining energy flow to top predators within East Antarctica. Our model reveals several major trophic pathways distinct from, and equally important to the Antarctic krill (〈em〉Euphausia superba〈/em〉) pathway. Using simple scenarios of reductions in krill biomass, we investigate how the system might switch to a state dominated by fish and squid pathways with the response of krill-reliant predators strongly dependent on their ability to switch to other prey sources. We conclude by discussing what these findings might suggest for the future vulnerability of East Antarctic food webs and the implications for future modelling work in the region.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 533〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wenhui Wang, Linna Zhang, Hao Liu, Xin Deng, Jingqiang Tan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study presents a new analysis of three species of the Ordovician graptolite genus 〈em〉Azygograptus〈/em〉 Nicholson & Lapworth from the Wenxiakou section in the Zhongxiang area of Hubei Province. The paleogeographic occurrences of the genus within South China were plotted on an up-to-date paleogeographic map based on a revised data set of graptolite occurrences from 68 localities compiled by the online Geobiodiversity Database (GBDB). The paleogeographic distribution of 〈em〉Azygograptus〈/em〉 follows a nearshore-offshore trend, and the taxonomic diversity of 〈em〉Azygograptus〈/em〉 is higher in nearshore high-energy environments than in offshore low-energy environments. However, graptolites also gathered in deeper-water environments surrounding oldlands partly due to the high-nutrient inputs and rapid deposition. 〈em〉Azygograptus〈/em〉 is found not only in high-latitude cold-water regions as endemic taxa but also in low-latitude regions. Oceanic circulation may account for the rapid dispersal of 〈em〉Azygograptus〈/em〉 from high-latitude regions, such as Britain and Scandinavia, to low-latitude regions, such as South China, eventually resulting in their observed paleogeographic distribution.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 7 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maria Isabel Vélez Márquez, Jasmin Raymond, Daniela Blessent, Mikael Philippe〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The terrestrial heat flux density, an essential information to evaluate the deep geothermal resource potential, is rarely defined over urban areas where energy needs are important. In an effort to fill this gap, the subsurface thermal conductivity estimated during two thermal response tests was coupled with undisturbed temperature profile measurements conducted in the same boreholes to infer terrestrial heat flow near the surface. The undisturbed temperature profiles were reproduced with an inverse numerical model of conductive heat transfer, where the optimization of the model bottom boundary condition allows determining the near-surface heat flow. The inverse numerical simulation approach was previously validated by optimizing a steady-state and synthetic temperature profile calculated with Fourier's Law. Data from two thermal response tests in ground heat exchangers of one hundred meters depth were analyzed with inverse numerical simulations provided as examples for the town of Québec City, Canada, and Orléans, France. The temperature profiles measured at the sites and corrected according to the paleoclimate effects of the quaternary glaciations were reproduced with the model. The approach presented offers an alternative to assess heat flow in the preliminary exploration of deep geothermal resources of urban areas, where thermal response tests may be common while deep wells are sparsely distributed over the area to assess heat flow.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Volume 131〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Amir Ashkan Mokhtari, Yan Lu, Ankit Srivastava〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this paper, we consider the operator properties of various phononic eigenvalue problems. We aim to answer some fundamental questions about the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of phononic operators. These include questions about the potential real and complex nature of the eigenvalues, whether the eigenvectors form a complete basis, what are the right orthogonality relationships, and how to create a complete basis when none may exist at the outset. In doing so we present a unified understanding of the properties of the phononic eigenvalues and eigenvectors which would emerge from any numerical method employed to compute such quantities. We show that the phononic problem can be cast into linear eigenvalue forms from which such quantities as frequencies, wavenumbers, and desired components of wavevectors can be directly ascertained without resorting to searches or quadratic eigenvalue problems and that the relevant properties of such quantities can be determined apriori through the analysis of the associated operators. We further show how the Plane Wave Expansion (PWE) method may be extended to solve each of these eigenvalue forms, thus extending the applicability of the PWE method to cases beyond those which have been considered till now. The theoretical discussions are supplemented with supporting numerical calculations. The techniques and results presented here directly apply to wave propagation in other periodic systems such as photonics.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Magnetic Resonance, Volume 305〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): A. Gallo, W.T. Franks, J.R. Lewandowski〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We present a suite of two-receiver solid-state NMR experiments for backbone and side chain resonance assignment. The experiments rely on either dipolar coupling or scalar coupling for polarization transfer and are devised to acquire a 〈sup〉1〈/sup〉H–detected 3D experiment AND a nested 〈sup〉13〈/sup〉C–detected 2D from a shared excitation pulse. In order to compensate for the lower sensitivity of detection on 〈sup〉13〈/sup〉C nucleus, 2D rows are signal averaged during 3D planes. The 3D dual receiver experiments do not suffer from any appreciable signal loss compared to their single receiver versions and require no extra optimization. The resulting data is higher in information content with no additional experiment time. The approach is expected to become widespread as multiple receivers become standard for new NMR spectrometers.〈/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-S1090780719301302-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Magnetic Resonance, Volume 305〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ibrahim A. Elabyad, M. Terekhov, M.R. Stefanescu, D. Lohr, M. Fischer, L.M. Schreiber〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The design, simulation, assembly and testing of a novel dedicated antisymmetric transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) coil array to demonstrate the feasibility of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) in pigs at 7 T was described. The novel antisymmetric array is composed of eight elements based on mirrored and reversed loop orientations to generate varying 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msubsup〉〈mi〉B〈/mi〉〈mrow〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈/mrow〉〈mo〉+〈/mo〉〈/msubsup〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 field harmonics for RF shimming. The central four loop elements formed together a pair of antisymmetric L-shaped channels to allow good decoupling between all neighboring elements of the entire array. The antisymmetric array was compared to a standard symmetric rectilinear loop array with an identical housing dimension. Both arrays were driven in the parallel transmit (pTx) mode forming an 8-channel transmit and 16-channel receive (8Tx/16Rx) coil array, where the same posterior array was combined with both anterior arrays. The hardware and imaging performance of the dedicated cardiac arrays were validated and compared by means of electromagnetic (EM) simulations, bench-top measurements, phantom, and 〈em〉ex-vivo〈/em〉 MRI experiments with 46 kg female pig. Combined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), geometry factor (g-factor), noise correlation maps, and high resolution 〈em〉ex-vivo〈/em〉 cardiac images were acquired with an in-plane resolution of 0.3 mm × 0.3 mm using both arrays. The novel antisymmetric array enhanced the SNR within the heart by about two times and demonstrated good decoupling and improved control of the 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msubsup〉〈mi〉B〈/mi〉〈mrow〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈/mrow〉〈mo〉+〈/mo〉〈/msubsup〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 field distributions for RF shimming compared to the standard coil array. Parallel imaging with acceleration factor (R) up to 4 was possible using the novel antisymmetric coil array while maintaining the mean g-factor within the heart region of 1.13.〈/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-S1090780719301284-ga1.jpg" width="356" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiao-Hu Dai, Hao-Xiang Fan, Jia-Jia Zhang, Shi-Jie Yuan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Pyrolysis gradually becomes a promising green method to dispose the sewage sludge who has brought serious problems to environment. In this study, hierarchical porous hollow carbon nanospheres are directly obtained by specific carbonization/activation procedures using sewage sludge as the only precursor for the first time. The resultant carbon possesses tailor-made hierarchically porous structure with larger surface area (1518.40 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), high pore volume (1.21 cm〈sup〉3〈/sup〉 g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), and rich oxygenic functional groups, which is favorable for lithium ion diffusion and can better enhance the ionic conductivity in an electrode system. As anode for li-ion battery, the carbon displays superior discharge capacity, which reaches 1168.9 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.1 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and 287.1 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 2 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. And the capacitance retention is 98.7% over 100 cycles at 0.1 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Therefore, it is anticipated that such a pollutants-derived carbon can facilitate the development of new green and sustainable pathways for the construction and design of well-defined porous carbon nanospheres to ease energy and environmental issues.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619313313-fx1.jpg" width="245" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 5 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biophysical Journal〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Thomas M. Kennelly, Yiran Li, Yi Cao, Eva E. Qwarnstrom, Mark Geoghegan〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Dynamic single-molecule force spectroscopy was performed to monitor the unbinding of fibronectin with the proteoglycans syndecan-4 (SDC4) and decorin and to compare this with the unbinding characteristics of 〈em〉α〈/em〉〈sub〉5〈/sub〉〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉1〈/sub〉-integrin. A single energy barrier was sufficient to describe the unbinding of both SDC4 and decorin from fibronectin, whereas two barriers were observed for the dissociation of 〈em〉α〈/em〉〈sub〉5〈/sub〉〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉1〈/sub〉-integrin from fibronectin. The outer (high-affinity) barriers in the interactions of fibronectin with 〈em〉α〈/em〉〈sub〉5〈/sub〉〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉1〈/sub〉-integrin and SDC4 are characterized by larger barrier heights and widths and slower dissociation rates than those of the inner (low-affinity) barriers in the interactions of fibronectin with 〈em〉α〈/em〉〈sub〉5〈/sub〉〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉1〈/sub〉-integrin and decorin. These results indicate that SDC4 and (ultimately) 〈em〉α〈/em〉〈sub〉5〈/sub〉〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉1〈/sub〉-integrin have the ability to withstand deformation in their interactions with fibronectin, whereas the decorin-fibronectin interaction is considerably more brittle.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 5 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Radiation Measurements〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hui-Yu Tsai, Hsin-Yu Chen, Ming-Wei Lee, Ze Wang, Sheng-Pin Tseng, Ji-Hong Hong, Meei-Ling Jan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Prompt-gamma Compton imaging (PGCI) has been presented as a promising 〈em〉in-vivo〈/em〉 method for proton range verification. An accurate estimation of the Bragg-peak position can potentially be achieved by imaging high-energy prompt-gamma rays (in the range of several MeV). Therefore, scintillation detectors with thick and high Z crystals are mostly used as Compton absorbers for high-energy gamma-ray detection. However, an absorber using thick crystals degrades the angular resolution unless the absorber can provide continuous depth-of-interaction (DOI) measurement. The study investigated various detector configurations using thick crystals for developing a Compton absorber with DOI resolving capability without compromising energy performance. Two groups of lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) with dimensions of 1.8 × 1.8 × 50 mm〈sup〉3〈/sup〉 and 1.8 × 1.8 × 20 mm〈sup〉3〈/sup〉 LYSO arrays, and each with four different surface treatments (combining crystal surface finishing and type of reflector coverage), were constructed for the study. The DOI detector utilized the dual-ended readout of pixelated scintillator arrays for depth encoding. The results revealed that the influences of type of the reflector coverage and crystal surface roughness on the performance of the DOI detectors for the 50- and 20-mm-thick LYSO differed greatly. Moreover, the combined use of the proposed partial inter-crystal reflector coverage and the unpolished surface finishing on the 50-mm-thick crystals were shown to improve the DOI resolution without compromising the energy performance but degraded the flood map quality. These results provide useful guidance for selecting an applicable Compton DOI absorber design for developing a high-performance PGCI system.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Tectonophysics, Volume 766〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Brandon L. Alessio, Stijn Glorie, Alan S. Collins, Fred Jourdan, Gilby Jepson, Angus Nixon, Pete R. Siegfried, Chris Clark〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The Southern Irumide Belt (SIB) of Zambia consists of predominantly Mesoproterozoic terranes that record a pervasive tectono-metamorphic overprint from collision between the Congo and Kalahari cratons in the final stages of Gondwana amalgamation. This study applies multi-method thermochronology to samples throughout southern Zambia to constrain the post-collisional, Phanerozoic thermo-tectonic evolution of the region. U-Pb apatite and 〈sup〉40〈/sup〉Ar/〈sup〉39〈/sup〉Ar muscovite data are used to constrain the cooling history of the region following Congo–Kalahari collision, and reveal ages of 〈em〉c〈/em〉. 550–450 Ma. Variations in the recorded cooling ages are interpreted to relate to localised post-tectonic magmatism and the proximity of analysed samples to the Congo–Kalahari suture. Apatite fission track data are used to constrain the low-temperature thermo-tectonic evolution of the region and identify mean central ages of 〈em〉c〈/em〉. 320–300, 210–200 and 120–110 Ma. Thermal modelling of these samples identifies a number of thermal events occurring in the region throughout the Phanerozoic. Carboniferous to Permian–Triassic heating is suggested to relate to the development of Karoo rift basins found throughout central Africa and constrain the timing of sedimentation in the basin. Permian to Jurassic cooling is identified in a number of samples, reflecting exhumation as a result of the Mauritanian–Variscan and Gondwanide orogenies. Subsequent cooling of the majority of samples occurs from the Cretaceous and persists until present, reflecting exhumation in response to larger scale rifting associated with the break-up of Gondwana. Each model reveals a later phase of enhanced cooling beginning at 〈em〉c〈/em〉. 30 Ma that, if not an artefact of modelling, corresponds to the development of the East African Rift System. The obtained thermochronological data elucidate the previously unconstrained thermal evolution of the SIB, and provides a refined regional framework for constraining the tectonic history of central Africa throughout the Phanerozoic.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 20 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Tectonophysics, Volume 767〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ángel Santamaría-López, Pierre Lanari, Carlos Sanz de Galdeano〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The Nevado-Filábride metamorphic complex (Betic Cordillera, Spain) exhibits a succession of Paleozoic and Mesozoic metasediments, orthogneisses and metabasites. The complex has been divided into three tectono-metamorphic units, from bottom to top: the Ragua, Calar-Alto and Bédar-Macael units. The petrochronological evolution of the complex is not well constrained as P-T-t conditions differ between authors mainly because of the investigated rock types and the thermobarometric and geochronological techniques applied. Five garnet-bearing mica-schists from various areas of the complex were investigated for constraining and comparing the shape of the P-T paths recorded by the three units. Quantitative compositional mapping of garnet and K-white mica was combined with iterative thermodynamic models. The resulting P-T trajectories suggest that the units experienced similar clockwise P-T trajectories during Alpine metamorphism. The three units reached high-pressure and low-temperature conditions of ~2.0 GPa and ~520 °C in the Bédar-Macael unit; ~2.0–2.2 GPa and ~470–490 °C in the Calar-Alto unit; and ~2.2 GPa and ~480 °C in the Ragua unit. All samples recorded a temperature increase of ~130 °C during exhumation as shown by the successive stages of white mica re-equilibrations. Heating during exhumation was probably triggered by the hot hanging wall over the Nevado-Filábride complex. The garnet rims reflect a high-temperature and low-pressure stage which was dated at ~13 Ma using allanite U-Th-Pb geochronology (LA-ICP-MS). Following the temperature peak, exhumation continued associated to cooling. Similarities in the shapes of P-T path throughout the units suggest a continuous metamorphic sequence rather a tectonically divided complex.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 20 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Tectonophysics, Volume 767〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Keisuke Ariyoshi, Jean-Paul Ampuero, Roland Bürgmann, Toru Matsuzawa, Akira Hasegawa, Ryota Hino, Takane Hori〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Recent observations show evidence of propagation of postseismic slip, which may contain information about the mechanical properties of faults. Here, we develop a new analytical relationship between the propagation speed of aseismic slip transients and fault frictional properties, modeled by a rate- and state-dependent friction law. The relationship explains the propagation speed of afterslip in 3-D numerical simulations to first order. Based on this relationship, we identify systematic dependencies of afterslip propagation speed on effective normal stress 〈em〉σ〈/em〉 and frictional properties (the coefficients 〈em〉a〈/em〉 and 〈em〉a-b〈/em〉 which quantify the instantaneous and the steady-state velocity-dependence of friction, respectively, and the characteristic slip distance 〈em〉L〈/em〉 of fault state evolution). Lower values of the parameter 〈em〉A〈/em〉 = 〈em〉aσ〈/em〉 cause faster propagation in areas where the passage of the postseismic slip front induces large shear stress changes Δ〈em〉τ〈/em〉 compared to 〈em〉A〈/em〉, which are typically located near the mainshock rupture. In areas where Δ〈em〉τ/A〈/em〉 is small, typically more distant from the mainshock, afterslip propagation speed is more sensitive to (〈em〉a-b〈/em〉)〈em〉σ〈/em〉. The propagation speed is proportional to initial slip velocity and, under the condition that loading span is significantly shorter than the passage of postseismic slip, inversely proportional to L. The relationship developed here should be useful to constrain the frictional properties of faults based on observed propagation speeds, independently of rock laboratory experiments, which can then be used in predictive numerical simulations of aseismic slip phenomena.〈/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-S0040195119302525-ga1.jpg" width="296" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Alireza Daneshyar, Mohsen Ghaemian〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A finite element model for seismic analysis of concrete arch dams is proposed. Material inelasticity as well as joints nonlinearity is considered. A damage-plastic formulation governs nonlinear behavior of concrete. Degeneration occurring during nonlinear behavior of concrete induces anisotropy into its microstructure. This anisotropy becomes more complex in seismic simulations, in which the state of stress expeditiously changes with time. Thus, anisotropic formulation is preferred over classical isotropic models. Utilizing rate-dependent anisotropic damage-plastic model, irreversible deformations, stiffness degeneration, induced anisotropy, closing/reopening of cracks, and viscous response of concrete are attained. Non-penetration condition, frictional behavior, and adhesion resulted by grouting of contraction and peripheral joints are also modeled in a coupled and rate-dependent manner. Different combinations of material and joints nonlinearities are used to model a system of dam-foundation-reservoir. The system is excited using three components of an earthquake, and effect of different sources of nonlinearities is investigated through comparison between results. In addition, capability of the anisotropic damage-plastic model is compared against an available isotropic formulation. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to investigate the effect of properties of joints on responses. Owing to high convergence rate of material and joints constitutive models, implicit time integration is employed, which leads to stable and accurate solutions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 5 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Tectonophysics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Qiang Ma, Yi-Gang Xu, Yangfan Deng, Jian-Ping Zheng, Min Sun, William L. Griffin, Bing Xia, Christina Yan Wang〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongqiang Hu, Yu Huang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The spatial variability of soil properties has a significant effect on the seismic responses of sites. Considering that the probability density evolution method (PDEM), an efficient probabilistic methodology, has not been used in the probabilistic analysis with spatially variable soil properties before, the random field theory is incorporated to the traditional framework of PDEM to perform stochastic seismic response analysis of a soil profile. The stochastic seismic responses, including seismic deformation, surface ground motion, amplification factor and excess pore water pressure ratio, are obtained to quantify the effect of spatially variable soil properties. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses are also carried out to study the influence of spatial variability of different soil parameters and coefficients of variation on the ground motion in terms of probability density function. The results indicate that the random field model of shear modulus has a higher possibility of experiencing higher ground motion intensity than does friction angle.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 20 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Tectonophysics, Volume 767〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maria Mesimeri, Vassilios Karakostas, Eleftheria Papadimitriou, George Tsaklidis〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The western Corinth Gulf, one of the most seismically active areas in Greece with frequent earthquake sequences and a dense seismological network, is an ideal region for investigating the properties of earthquake clusters. We study 47 earthquake clusters identified using a high-resolution earthquake catalog and the CURATE clustering algorithm. Based on the skewness and kurtosis of their moment release history, 31 sequences are successfully distinguished as earthquake swarms and 13 as mainshock-aftershock sequences (three sequences could not be classified). The relationship between skewness and kurtosis leads to a parabola where mainshock–aftershock sequences are located to the right part (high values of skewness and kurtosis), whereas earthquake swarms to the center–left (low values of skewness and kurtosis). This discrimination is validated by taking into consideration the occurrence time of the largest event in the sequence, as well as the difference in magnitude between the largest event and other larger events. Twelve clusters, which consist of several burst-like repeaters, show evidence of fluid driven activity with diffusivity ranging from 0.5 to 1.8 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/s for the triggering front and 0.1 to 0.4 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/s for the back front. The observed temporal evolution of earthquake swarms compared to that expected from the ETAS stochastic model shows that they have distinct values for the model parameters α and μ. Finally, interevent time distributions for four clusters having at least 100 events show that a Lognormal distribution fits best in all cases, suggesting a degree of triggering between subsequent events.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huiling Zhao, Yong Yuan, Zhiming Ye, Haitao Yu, Zhiming Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The stiffness distribution of an atrium subway station with zero buried depth spatially varies when columns in the first level underground are removed and lateral beams replace the middle part of the floor slabs. It is pertinent to the mechanism and effects of multidirectional ground shaking on such structures. In this paper, the response characteristics of an atrium subway station subjected to bidirectional ground motions in a shaking table test were presented. Under horizontal seismic shaking, the structure, without a soil cover, showed a non-negligible rocking mode coupled with the well-known racking of the structure. Under vertical seismic shaking, the lateral beams, without supporting columns, demonstrated an obvious bending vibration associated with an overall up and downward movement. Overall, the horizontal component contributed more to dynamic response of the structure than the vertical component.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hector Guerrero, Vladimir Rodriguez, J. Alberto Escobar, Sergio M. Alcocer, Felipe Bennetts, Manuel Suarez〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In the reinforced concrete (RC) precast industry there is great concern about the seismic behavior of connections that emulate monolithic ones. Therefore, an experimental program was developed to examine the seismic performance of a particular RC precast connection type frequently used in industrial applications in comparison to monolithic connections. Tests were conducted on full scale. This paper presents and discusses the main results. Comparisons of a benchmark monolithic connection and six precast beam-column joints are presented. Precast connections were fabricated using different detailing, various levels of joint confinement, and post-tensioning. Test results are compared in terms of strength and deformation capacity, energy dissipation, and stiffness degradation. A relation between effective beam stiffness and inter-storey drift is found and compared to cracked stiffness modification factors recommended by design codes. Two effective stiffness models for reinforced concrete beams are proposed. Conclusions relevant to the precast construction industry have been formulated. Results show an acceptable performance of the tested precast system for seismic applications.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 532〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Camilo A. Polo, John Melvin, Nigel Hooker, Murray Gingras, S. George Pemberton〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The Nuayyim Formation of the Unayzah Group is widespread in subsurface central Saudi Arabia and constitutes a laterally variable stratigraphic unit with a complex mosaic of facies. Sedimentation for the Tinat Member took place majorly in a continental setting dominated by aeolian processes that resulted in dunes, interdunes, ephemeral stream deposits terminating with regional development of paleosols. Facies, ichnofacies and palynological analysis, suggest an arid to semi-arid setting with biogenic activity in the form of continental fauna and plants in deposits associated with pedogenetical alteration in paleosol horizons. Therein, burrowing exhibits elements of the 〈em〉Scoyenia〈/em〉 Ichnofacies in beds with sparse to abundant bioturbation. Tectonic uplift and subaerial exposure resulted in the exhumation of previously buried substrates, leading to the formation of burrowed palimpsests surfaces associated with paleosols at the end of Unayzah deposition prior to the onset of the Khuff Formation. Progressive thermal updoming is interpreted to have occurred during the latest portion of the Unayzah Group sedimentation cycle in the Arabian Plate culminating in the regional “Pre-Khuff unconformity” at the top of this megacycle recognized in this study by biogenically-demarcated diastems.〈/p〉 〈p〉Ichnological and sedimentological observations outlined in this study are significant because they: (i) refine existing interpretations of the paleoenvironmental history in the study area; (ii) document diastems marking breaks in sedimentation; and (iii) outline several soil-forming cycles that allowed the establishment of a trace fossil suite with continental affinities, thus demarcating the end of an entire sedimentation cycle. The recognition and delineation of burrowed horizons associated with paleosols provides a tool to understand the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of similar successions in the rock record.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lifang Cui, He Zhao, Yujun Yin, Chao Liang, Xiaolong Mao, Yingzheng Liu, Qilin Yu, Mingchun Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈em〉Candida albicans〈/em〉 is an important opportunistic pathogenic fungus in the human body. It is a common microbe inhabiting on the mucosa surfaces of healthy individuals, but may cause infections when the host immune system is weak. Autophagy is a “self-eating” process in eukaryotes, which can recover and utilize damaged organelles and misfolded proteins. Here we investigated the role of the autophagy-related protein Atg11 in 〈em〉C. albicans〈/em〉. Deletion of 〈em〉ATG11〈/em〉 led to the defect in growth under the nitrogen starvation condition. Western blotting and GFP localization further revealed that the transport and degradation of Atg8 was blocked in the 〈em〉atg11〈/em〉Δ/Δ mutant under both the nitrogen starvation and hypha-inducing conditions. Moreover, degradation of both Lap41 (the indicator of the cytoplasm-to-vacuole pathway) and Csp37 (the indicator of mitophagy) was also thoroughly suppressed in this mutant under nitrogen starvation. These results indicated that Atg11 plays an essential role in both non-selective and selective autophagy in 〈em〉C. albicans〈/em〉.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yi-meng Cao, Meng-yu Liu, Zhuo-wei Xue, Yu Qiu, Jie Li, Yang Wang, Qing-kai Wu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Promotion of wound healing is one of the most important fields in clinical medical research. This study aimed to evaluate the potential use of a new surface-structured bacterial cellulose(S-BC) biomaterial with human urine-derived stem cells (hUSCs) for wound healing. In vitro, EA.hy926 were inoculated on structured/non-structured bacterial cellulose, and the growth of EA.hy926 on bacterial cellulose in medium with/without conditioned medium of the hUSCs were observed to explore the effect of bacterial cellulose's surface structure and hUSCs-CM on vascular endothelial cell growth. In vivo, we covered wound surface with various BC materials and/or injected the hUSCs into the wound site on group BC, group S-BC, group hUSCs, group BC + hUSCs, group S-BC + hUSCs to evaluate the effect of S-BC and hUSCs on wound healing in rat full-thickness skin defect model. In vitro study, surface structure of S-BC could promote the growth and survival of EA.hy926, and the hUSCs-CM could further promote the proliferation of EA.hy926 on S-BC. In vivo study, wound healing rate of the group BC, group S-BC, group hUSCs was significantly accelerated, accompanied by faster re-epithelialization, collagen production and neovascularization than control group. It is note worthy that the effect of S-BC on wound healing was better than BC, the effect of S-BC + hUSCs on wound healing was better than BC + hUSCs. Moreover, the effect of S-BC combined with hUSCs on wound is better than treated with S-BC or hUSCs alone. All the findings suggest that the combination of S-BC and hUSCs could facilitate skin wound healing by promoting angiogenesis. This combination of the role of stem cells and biomaterial surface structures may provide a new way to address clinical wound healing problems.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Naohiro Katagiri, Satoru Nagatoishi, Kouhei Tsumoto, Hideya Endo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Methionine aminopeptidase 2 (MetAP2) is one of the effector proteins of S100A4, a metastasis-associated calcium-binding protein. This interaction is involved in angiogenesis. The region of MetAP2 that interacts with S100A4 includes amino acids 170 to 208. A peptide corresponding to this region, named as NBD, has potent anti-angiogenic activity and suppresses tumor growth in a xenograft cancer model. However, the binding mode of NBD to S100A4 was totally unknown. Here we describe our analysis of the relationship between the inhibitory activity and the structure of NBD, which adopts a characteristic helix-turn-helix structure as shown by X-ray crystallographic analysis, and peptide fragments of NBD. We conducted physicochemical analyses of the interaction between S100A4 and the peptides, including surface plasmon resonance, microscale thermophoresis, and circular dichroism, and performed docking/molecular dynamics simulations. Active peptides had stable secondary structures, whereas inactive peptides had a little secondary structure. A computational analysis of the interaction mechanism led to the design of a peptide smaller than NBD, NBD-ΔN10, that possessed inhibitory activity. Our study provides a strategy for design for a specific peptide inhibitor against S100A4 that can be applied to the discovery of inhibitors of other protein-protein interactions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes, Volume 1861, Issue 9〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Anargyros Doukas, Ekaterini Karena, Maria Botou, Konstantinos Papakostas, Amalia Papadaki, Olympia Tziouvara, Evaggelia Xingi, Stathis Frillingos, Haralabia Boleti〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Recombinant expression systems for mammalian membrane transport proteins are often limited by insufficient yields to support structural studies, inadequate post-translational processing and problems related with improper membrane targeting or cytotoxicity. Use of alternative expression systems and optimization of expression/purification protocols are constantly needed. In this work, we explore the applicability of the laboratory strain LEXSY of the ancient eukaryotic microorganism 〈em〉Leishmania tarentolae〈/em〉 as a new expression system for mammalian nucleobase permeases of the NAT/NCS2 (Nucleobase-Ascorbate Transporter/Nucleobase-Cation Symporter-2) family. We achieved the heterologous expression of the purine-pyrimidine permease rSNBT1 from 〈em〉Rattus norvegicus〈/em〉 (tagged at C-terminus with a red fluorescent protein), as confirmed by confocal microscopy and biochemical analysis of the subcellular fractions enriched in membrane proteins. The cDNA of rSNBT1 has been subcloned in a pLEXSY-〈em〉sat-mrfp1〈/em〉vector and used to generate transgenic 〈em〉L〈/em〉. 〈em〉tarentolae-rsnbt1-mrfp1〈/em〉 strains carrying the pLEXSY-sat-〈em〉rsnbt1-mrfp1〈/em〉 plasmid either episomally or integrated in the chromosomal DNA. The chimeric transporter rSNBT1-mRFP1 is targeted to the ER and the plasma membrane of the 〈em〉L〈/em〉. 〈em〉tarentolae〈/em〉 promastigotes. The transgenic strains are capable of transporting nucleobases that are substrates of rSNBT1 but also of the endogenous 〈em〉L〈/em〉. 〈em〉tarentolae〈/em〉 nucleoside/nucleobase transporters. A dipyridamole-resistant Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉-dependent fraction of uptake is attributed to the exogenously expressed rSNBT1.〈/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-S0005273619301452-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xue Mei Li, Soo Jung Kim, Dong-Kyun Hong, Kyoung Eun Jung, Chong Won Choi, Young-Joon Seo, Jeung-Hoon Lee, Young Lee, Chang-Deok Kim〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a zinc-finger transcription factor that plays a role in terminal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes. There are conflicting reports regarding the role of KLF4 in tumor development, with both the tumor suppressive and/or oncogenic properties depending on different conditions and cell types. In this study, we investigated the functional importance of KLF4 in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Immunohistochemistry showed that KLF4 expression was relatively low in SCC lesion compared to normal epidermis. To examine the effects of KFL4, we transduced SCC lines (SCC12 and SCC13 cells) with the KLF4-expressing recombinant adenovirus. Overexpression of KLF4 significantly decreased cell proliferation and colony forming activity. In addition, overexpression of KLF4 markedly reduced invasive potential, along with the downregulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related molecules. In a mechanistic study, KLF4 inhibited SOX2, of which expression is critical for tumor initiation and growth of SCC. Further investigations indicated that SOX2 expression is induced by TGF-β/SMAD signaling, and that overexpression of KLF4 inhibited SMAD signaling via upregulation of SMAD7, an important inhibitory SMAD molecule. Based on these data, KLF4 plays a tumor suppressive role in cutaneous SCC cells.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yan Shen, Shengnan Chen, Yan Zhao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Hyperglycemia-induced podocyte injury plays a vital role in the development of diabetic nephropathy. Sulfiredoxin-1 (Srxn1) is emerging as a cytoprotective protein that protects from various insults in a wide range of cell types. However, whether Srxn1 is involved in regulating hyperglycemia-induced podocyte injury and participates in diabetic nephropathy remains unknown. In the present study, we aimed to explore the potential role of Srxn1 in regulating high glucose (HG)-induced apoptosis and oxidative stress of podocytes 〈em〉in vitro〈/em〉. Results demonstrated that Srxn1 was induced in HG-stimulated podocytes. The depletion of Srxn1 by Srxn1 siRNA-mediated gene silencing significantly exacerbated HG-induced apoptosis and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), while Srxn1 overexpression attenuated HG-induced apoptosis and ROS production. In-depth molecular mechanism research revealed that Srxn1 overexpression promoted the nuclear expression of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) and reinforced antioxidant response element (ARE)-mediated transcription activity. Moreover, results confirmed that Srxn1 increased the activation of Nrf2/ARE signaling associated with inactivating glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β. Notably, the inhibition of GSK-3β significantly reversed Srxn1 silencing-induced adverse effects in HG-treated cells, while the knockdown of Nrf2 abrogated the Srxn1-mediated protective effect against HG-induced podocyte injury. Taken together, our results demonstrated that Srxn1 protects podocytes from HG-induced injury by promoting the activation of Nrf2/ARE signaling associated with inactivating GSK-3β, indicating a potential role of Srxn1 in diabetic nephropathy. Our study suggests that Srxn1 may serve as a potential target for kidney protection.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0006291X19313178-fx1.jpg" width="398" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yu-Lun Huang, Gota Kawai, Atsuhiko Hasegawa, Mari Kannagi, Takao Masuda〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Reverse transcription of retroviral RNA is accomplished through a minus-strand strong stop cDNA (-sscDNA) synthesis and subsequent strand-transfer reactions. We have previously reported a critical role of guanosine (G) number at 5′-terminal of HIV-1 RNA for successful strand-transfer of -sscDNA. In this study, role(s) of the cap consisting of 7-methyl guanosine (〈sup〉7m〈/sup〉G), a hallmark of transcripts generated by RNA polymerase II, at the 5′-end G nucleotide (5′-G) of HIV-1 RNA were examined. In parallel, contribution of highly conserved GGG tract located at the U3/R boundary in 3′ terminal region of viral RNA (3′-GGG tract) was also addressed. The in vitro reverse transcription analysis using synthetic HIV-1 RNAs possessing the 5′-G with cap or triphosphate form demonstrated that the 5′-cap significantly increased strand-transfer efficiency of -sscDNA. Meanwhile, effect of the 5′-cap on the strand-transfer was retained in the reaction using mutant HIV-1 RNAs in which two Gs were deleted from the 3′-GGG tract. Lack of apparent contribution of the 3′-GGG tract during strand-transfer events in vitro was reproduced in the context of HIV-1 replication within cells. Instead, we noticed that the 3′-GGG tract might be required for efficient gene expression from proviral DNA. These results indicated that 〈sup〉7m〈/sup〉G of the cap on HIV-1 RNA might not be reverse-transcribed and a possible role of the 3′-GGG tract to accept the non-template nucleotide addition during -sscDNA synthesis might be less likely. The 5′-G modifications of HIV-1 RNAs by the cap- or phosphate-removal enzyme revealed that the cap or monophosphate form of the 5′-G was preferred for the 1st strand-transfer compared to the triphosphate or non-phosphate form. Taken together, a status of the 5′-G determined strand-transfer efficiency of -sscDNA without affecting the non-template nucleotide addition, probably by affecting association of the 5′-G with 3′-end region of viral RNA.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0006291X19312926-fx1.jpg" width="307" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Applied Geophysics, Volume 169〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongzhi Tang, Haiyan Yang, Guangyin Lu, Shenen Chen, Jianhua Yue, Ziqiang Zhu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉To improve the detection of underground anomalies, a transient electromagnetic method with coincident loop is devised and the derivation of late-time and all-time apparent resistivity formula for a coincident loop is presented. The derivation takes the induced electromotive force generated from the coincident loop in a homogeneous whole space into consideration. A translation algorithm for the all-time apparent resistivity in half space is extended into the whole space. The current turn-off affect the detection ability of the instrument and the interpretation of the data, so a general procedure to correct this effect is introduced to compute the transient electromagnetic response of the whole-space considering ramp turn-off time. In addition, unlike the conventional measurement method, the sector detection technique is used to improve the accuracy of the underground transient electromagnetic method. The results from two field examples show good consistence with hydrological and geological information, indicating that the robustness and reliability of our theory and technical scheme.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Chemical Physics, Volume 526〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Min You, Haoran Fan, Yang Wang, Wenkai Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Tryptophan derivatives have long been used as site-specific fluorescent probes. 4-cyanotryptophan emits in the visible region and is the smallest blue fluorescent amino acid probe. We performed UV–Vis, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy on six aldehyde-derivatized indoles dissolved in water and found that indole-4-carboxaldehyde (I4A) has the largest redshifts among all reported indole derivatives and can emit in the green region of the visible spectrum, which suggests that substitution of the indole ring of Trp using I4A may make a green fluorescent amino acid probe. It differs from tryptophan by only 3 atoms and will be the smallest green fluorescent amino acid probe that has great potential to be used in spectroscopic and microscopic measurements of proteins. We also found that I4A could be used as a fluorescent probe to detect trace water in organic solvents since its maximum emission wavelength is extremely sensitive to local hydrogen-bonding status.〈/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-S0301010419305956-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiong Wang, Huishou Zhao, Wenjun Yan, Yi Liu, Tao Yin, Shan Wang, Miaomiao Fan, Congye Li, Ling Zhang, Ling Tao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Atherosclerosis is characterized by the accumulation of excess cholesterol in plaques. Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) plays a key role in the removal of cholesterol. In the present study, we examined the effect of thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) on RCT and explored the underlying mechanism. We found that Trx-1 promoted RCT 〈em〉in vivo〈/em〉, as did T0901317, a known liver X receptor (LXR) ligand. T0901317 also inhibited the development of atherosclerotic plaques but promoted liver steatosis. Furthermore, Trx-1 promoted macrophage cholesterol efflux to apoAI 〈em〉in vitro〈/em〉. Mechanistically, Trx-1 promoted nuclear translocation of LXRα and induced the expression of ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1). Apolipoprotein E knockout (apoE−/−) mice fed an atherogenic diet were daily injected intraperitoneally with saline or Trx-1 (0.33 mg/kg). Trx-1 treatment significantly inhibited the development of atherosclerosis and induced the expression of ABCA1 in macrophages retrieved from apoE−/− mice. Moreover, the liver steatosis was attenuated by Trx-1. Overall, we demonstrated that Trx-1 promotes RCT by upregulating ABCA1 expression through induction of nuclear translocation of LXRα, and protects liver from steatosis.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 13 August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 1〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Azuma Kosai, Nanao Horike, Yoshiaki Takei, Akihiro Yamashita, Kaori Fujita, Takashi Kamatani, Noriyuki Tsumaki〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The maturation of chondrocytes is strictly regulated for proper endochondral bone formation. Although recent studies have revealed that intracellular metabolic processes regulate the proliferation and differentiation of cells, little is known about how changes in metabolite levels regulate chondrocyte maturation. To identify the metabolites which regulate chondrocyte maturation, we performed a metabolome analysis on chondrocytes of Sik3 knockout mice, in which chondrocyte maturation is delayed. Among the metabolites, acetyl-CoA was decreased in this model. Immunohistochemical analysis of the Sik3 knockout chondrocytes indicated that the expression levels of phospho-pyruvate dehydrogenase (phospho-Pdh), an inactivated form of Pdh, which is an enzyme that converts pyruvate to acetyl-CoA, and of Pdh kinase 4 (Pdk4), which phosphorylates Pdh, were increased. Inhibition of Pdh by treatment with CPI613 delayed chondrocyte maturation in metatarsal primordial cartilage in organ culture. These results collectively suggest that decreasing the acetyl-CoA level is a cause and not result of the delayed chondrocyte maturation. Sik3 appears to increase the acetyl-CoA level by decreasing the expression level of Pdk4. Blocking ATP synthesis in the TCA cycle by treatment with rotenone also delayed chondrocyte maturation in metatarsal primordial cartilage in organ culture, suggesting the possibility that depriving acetyl-CoA as a substrate for the TCA cycle is responsible for the delayed maturation. Our finding of acetyl-CoA as a regulator of chondrocyte maturation could contribute to understanding the regulatory mechanisms controlling endochondral bone formation by metabolites.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Saujanya Acharya, Shubhankar Dutta, Sucheta Chopra, Kakoli Bose〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Human HtrA3 (High temperature requirement protease A3) is a trimeric PDZ bearing propapoptotic serine protease, which is involved in various diseases including cancer and pre-eclampsia. Proposed to be a tumor suppressor, its role as a potential therapeutic target is strongly advocated. Therefore, it becomes imperative to gain insights into its mechanism of action and regulation. Allostery is a well-known mechanism of catalytic activation for many HtrA3 homologs, which opens up avenues for manipulating enzyme functions for therapeutic intervention. In our study, through 〈em〉in silico〈/em〉 and biochemical approaches, we have reported for the first time that HtrA3 shows allosteric behaviour. We identified a novel selective binding pocket, which triggers conformational reorientations through signal propagation to the distantly situated active-site pocket via the functionally important loop regions. Using molecular docking, simulation studies and biochemical studies we have identified the regulatory movements at and around the active site pocket. Our study is the first one to report a non-classical binding site for HtrA3, which is instrumental for formation of a catalytically efficient orthosteric pocket upon substrate binding.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0006291X19313312-fx1.jpg" width="470" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Farnoush Asghari-Paskiabi, Mohammad Imani, Hashem Rafii-Tabar, Mehdi Razzaghi-Abyaneh〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Selenium sulfide is a well-known bioactive chemical whose biosynthesis as a nanoparticle (NP) is a controversial issue. In the present study, we employed 〈em〉Saccharomyces cerevisiae〈/em〉 to generate a novel synthetic process of selenium sulfide NPs. The addition of selenium/sulfur precursors to 〈em〉S. cerevisiae〈/em〉 culture produced NPs, which we isolated and characterized the physicochemical properties, toxicity, and antifungal activity. Transmission electron microscopy indicated the presence of the NPs inside the cells. Selenium sulfide NPs were successfully synthesized with average size of 6.0 and 153 nm with scanning electron micrographs and 360 and 289 nm in Zeta sizer using different precursors. The presence of sulfur/selenium in the particles was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and elemental mapping. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy supported the production of selenium sulfide NPs. X-ray diffractograms showed the presence of characteristic peaks of selenium sulfide NPs which were further confirmed by mass spectrometry. The obtained NPs strongly inhibited the growth of pathogenic fungi that belonged to the genera 〈em〉Aspergillus〈/em〉, 〈em〉Candida〈/em〉, 〈em〉Alternaria〈/em〉 and the dermatophytes, while no cytotoxicity was observed in MTT assay. In conclusion, efficient green synthesis of selenium sulfide NPs with appropriate physicochemical properties is possible in bio-systems like 〈em〉S. cerevisiae〈/em〉.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0006291X19313361-fx1.jpg" width="285" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Masashi Maekawa, Hiromi Hiyoshi, Jun Nakayama, Kohki Kido, Tatsuya Sawasaki, Kentaro Semba, Eiji Kubota, Takashi Joh, Shigeki Higashiyama〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit D (EIF3D) binds to the 5′-cap of specific mRNAs, initiating their translation into polypeptides. From a pathological standpoint, EIF3D has been observed to be essential for cell growth in various cancer types, and cancer patients with high EIF3D mRNA levels exhibit poor prognosis, indicating involvement of EIF3D in oncogenesis. In this study, we found, by mass spectrometry, that Cullin-3 (CUL3)/KCTD10 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase forms a complex with EIF3D. We also demonstrated that EIF3D is K27-polyubiquitinated at the lysine 153 and 275 residues in a KCTD10-dependent manner in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. Similar to other cancers, high expression of EIF3D significantly correlated with poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma patients, and depletion of EIF3D drastically suppressed HepG2 cell proliferation. These results indicate that EIF3D is a novel substrate of CUL3/KCTD10 Ub ligase and suggest involvement of K27-polyubiquitinated EIF3D in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉