bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Austenitic Stainless Steels Deformed at Elevated Temperature
Authors: Calmunger Mattias , Chai Guocai , Eriksson Robert , Johansson Sten , Moverare Johan J.
Published: July 2017

Highly alloyed austenitic stainless steels are promising candidates to replace more expensive nickel-based alloys within the energy-producing industry. The present study investigates the deformation mechanisms by microstructural characterization, mechanical properties and stress–strain response of three commercial austenitic stainless steels and two commercial nickel-based alloys using uniaxial tensile tests at elevated temperatures from 673 K (400

$$^{\circ }$$

∘

C) up to 973 K (700

$$^{\circ }$$

∘

C). The materials showed different ductility at elevated temperatures which increased with increasing nickel content. The dominating deformation mechanism was planar dislocation-driven deformation at elevated temperature. Deformation twinning was also a noticeable active deformation mechanism in the heat-resistant austenitic alloys during tensile deformation at elevated temperatures up to 973 K (700

$$^{\circ }$$

∘

C).
Poetry, Print, and the Making of Postcolonial Literature
Authors: Suhr-Sytsma Nathan
Published: July 2017

Poetry, Print, and the Making of Postcolonial Literature reveals an intriguing history of relationships among poets and editors from Ireland and Nigeria, Britain and the Caribbean, during the mid-twentieth-century era of decolonization. The book explores what such leading anglophone poets such as Seamus Heaney, Christopher Okigbo, and Derek Walcott had in common: 'peripheral' origins and a desire to address transnational publics without expatriating themselves. The book reconstructs how they gained the imprimatur of both local and London-based cultural institutions. It shows, furthermore, how political crises challenged them to reconsider their poetry's publics. Making substantial use of unpublished archival material, Nathan Suhr-Sytsma examines poems in print, often the pages on which they first appeared, in order to chart the transformation of the anglophone literary world. He argues that these poets' achievements cannot be extricated from the transnational networks through which their poems circulated - and which they in turn remade.
The Multiple Levels of Governance of International Migration: Understanding Disparities and Disorder
Authors: Awad Ibrahim
Published: July 2017

There is no corpus of law that is global in nature. Rather, “global” migration law is a collection of legal instruments situated at levels ascending from the subnational to the international levels. International law instruments contribute to the global governance of international migration at the international and regional levels. Two issues arise with respect to the effectiveness of these instruments: voluntary state accession and subsequent enforcement, even when states are parties to them. Domestic law regulates issues of international migration at the national and subnational levels. Enforcement is assumed to be more effective here. But this effectiveness varies according to the power of states, their levels of development and their capacities.
Human Mobility and the Longue Durée: The Prehistory of Global Migration Law
Authors: Bhabha Jacqueline
Published: July 2017

The long history of human migration sets the stage for a probing engagement with current migration law and the challenges of bringing it into alignment with contemporary needs and rights. If very large scale movements of people are a constant element of life on earth, should we reconsider the migration panic that has gripped political leaders and their publics, and should we reassess the responses that are being advanced? Instead of crisis should we be talking of continuum, instead of restrictions on foreigner entry should we be considering support for human ingenuity and opportunity? Despite its scale, should we consider ways to extend to distress-migration the facilitatory infrastructure we routinely apply to business or service related human mobility?
Assessments of Structure-Dependent Integration Methods with Explicit Displacement and Velocity Difference Equations
Authors: Chang S. Y. , Wu T. H.
Published: July 2017

A family of structure-dependent integration methods has been proposed by Guiet al. for time integration. Although it has desirable numerical properties, such as unconditional stability, explicit formulation and second-order accuracy, it has some adverse properties, such as a poor capability to capture structural nonlinearity, an overshoot in a high frequency steady- state response and a weak instability in the high frequency response of nonzero initial conditions. The causes of these adverse properties are explored. A poor capability to capture structural nonlinearity may originate from the convergence rate of 1 in velocity error. This family method has an overshoot in a high frequency steady-state response and this overshoot can be eliminated by adding a load-dependent term into the displacement difference equation. It is also analytically verified that the family method generally has no weak instability. However, the special member withλ= 4, i.e., CR explicit method, is shown to have a weak instability. Thus, it must be prohibited from practical applications although many applications of this method were found in the literature.
Tunable Acoustic Wave Propagation Through Planar Auxetic Metamaterial
Authors: He J. H. , Huang H. H.
Published: July 2017

This paper presents a tunable planar auxetic metamaterial (PAM) for controlling and filtering acoustic waves and provides guidelines for bandgap design of the proposed PAMs. Numerical results for deformed and undeformed PAMs were obtained from several finite element analyses based on Bloch–Floquet theory. The acoustic band structures of the PAMs were calculated with periodic boundaries. Tunable bandgaps in certain frequency ranges were generated by various deformations applied to the PAMs. Wave attenuation in experimental transmission loss at specific frequencies was demonstrated, showing favorable agreement with the bandgaps obtained from numerical calculations. Both the numerical and experimental results indicate that the proposed structure demonstrates great tunability and offers significant advantages over the regular materials for controlling sound wave propagation and filtering sound waves within specific frequency ranges.
Parallel Direct Method of DNS for Two-Dimensional Turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
Authors: Bao Y. , Luo J. , Ye M.
Published: July 2017

A highly efficient parallelization scheme of direct numerical simulation (DNS) for two-dimensional Rayleigh-Bénard convection is presented. By introducing the parallel diagonal dominant (PDD) algorithm to solve the pressure Poisson equation and adjusting the domain decomposition accordingly, all-to-all communication as the usual obstacle to parallel computing can be eliminated. Excellent strong scaling and weak scaling for the parallel efficiency are achieved. Numerical results show that very complex structures in flow exist at very high Ra numbers. The required high resolution both in space and in time can be obtained by the present method at low parallel overhead.
Altered interoceptive activation before, during, and after aversive breathing load in women remitted from anorexia nervosa
Authors: Berner L. A. , Simmons A. N. , Wierenga C. E. , Bischoff-Grethe A. , Paulus M. P. , Bailer U. F. , Ely A. V. , Kaye W. H.
Published: July 2017

Background

The neural mechanisms of anorexia nervosa (AN), a severe and chronic psychiatric illness, are still poorly understood. Altered body state processing, or interoception, has been documented in AN, and disturbances in aversive interoception may contribute to distorted body perception, extreme dietary restriction, and anxiety. As prior data implicate a potential mismatch between interoceptive expectation and experience in AN, we examined whether AN is associated with altered brain activation before, during, and after an unpleasant interoceptive state change.

Methods

Adult women remitted from AN (RAN; n = 17) and healthy control women (CW; n = 25) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during an inspiratory breathing load paradigm.

Results

During stimulus anticipation, the RAN group, relative to CW, showed reduced activation in right mid-insula. In contrast, during the aversive breathing load, the RAN group showed increased activation compared with CW in striatum and cingulate and prefrontal cortices (PFC). The RAN group also showed increased activation in PFC, bilateral insula, striatum, and amygdala after stimulus offset. Time course analyses indicated that RAN responses in interoceptive processing regions during breathing load increased more steeply than those of CW. Exploratory analyses revealed that hyperactivation after breathing load was associated with markers of past AN severity.

Conclusions

Anticipatory deactivation with a subsequent exaggerated brain response during and after an aversive body state may contribute to difficulty predicting and adapting to internal state fluctuation. Because eating changes our interoceptive state, restriction may be one method of avoiding aversive, unpredictable internal change in AN.
Psychoneurometric assessment of dispositional liabilities for suicidal behavior: phenotypic and etiological associations
Authors: Venables N. C. , Yancey J. R. , Kramer M. D. , Hicks B. M. , Krueger R. F. , Iacono W. G. , Joiner T. E. , Patrick C. J.
Published: July 2017

Background

Can core genetic liabilities for suicidal behavior be indexed using psychological and neural indicators combined? The current work addressed this question by examining phenotypic and genetic associations of two biobehavioral traits, threat sensitivity (THT) and disinhibition (DIS) – operationalized as psychoneurometric variables (i.e., composites of psychological-scale and neurophysiological measures) – with suicidal behaviors in a sample of adult twins.

Methods

Participants were 444 identical and fraternal twins recruited from an urban community. THT was assessed using a psychological-scale measure of fear/fearlessness combined with physiological indicators of reactivity to aversive pictures, and DIS was assessed using scale measures of disinhibitory tendencies combined with indicators of brain response from lab performance tasks. Suicidality was assessed using items from structured interview and questionnaire protocols.

Results

THT and DIS each contributed uniquely to prediction of suicidality when assessed psychoneurometrically (i.e., as composites of scale and neurophysiological indicators). In addition, these traits predicted suicidality interactively, with participants high on both reporting the greatest degree of suicidal behaviors. Biometric (twin-modeling) analyses revealed that a high percentage of the predictive association for each psychoneurometric trait (83% for THT, 68% for DIS) was attributable to genetic variance in common with suicidality.

Conclusions

Findings indicate that psychoneurometric assessments of biobehavioral traits index genetic liability for suicidal behavior, and as such, can serve as innovative targets for research on core biological processes contributing to severe psychopathology, including suicidal proclivities and actions.
Patterns of metal procurement, manufacture and exchange in Early Bronze Age northwestern Anatolia: Demircihüyük and beyond
Authors: Massa Michele , McIlfatrick Orlene , Fidan Erkan
Published: July 2017

This paper adds a new interpretive layer to the already extremely well-investigated site of Demircihüyük, a small Early Bronze Age settlement at the northwestern fringes of the central Anatolian plateau. It presents a reassessment of the evidence for prehistoric mining in the region, as well as a new programme of chemical composition analysis integrated with an object functional and technological typology of the site's metal assemblages. The results reveal complex manufacturing techniques (such as bivalve mould casting, plating and lost wax) and the co-occurrence of several alloying types, including the earliest tin bronzes in the region. Object typology further indicates that the Demircihüyük community was at the intersection of two distinct metallurgical networks: one centred on the western Anatolian highlands, the other spanning the northern part of the central plateau. Additionally, several strands of evidence suggest that the beginning of interregional exchanges, linking central Anatolia to northern Levantine and Mesopotamian societies, may have started at an earlier date than the commonly assumed ca 3000–2800 BC.
Dynamic analysis of Hexarot: axis-symmetric parallel manipulator
Authors: Pedrammehr Siamak , Danaei Behzad , Abdi Hamid , Masouleh Mehdi Tale , Nahavandi Saeid
Published: July 2017

In this study, the kinematics and dynamics of a six-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator, known as Hexarot, are evaluated. Hexarot is classified under axis-symmetric robotic mechanisms. The manipulator comprises a cylindrical base column and six actuated upper arms, which are connected to a platform through passive joints and six lower arms. The actuators of the mechanism are located inside a cylindrical-shaped base, which allows the mechanism to rotate infinitely about the axes of the latter column. In the context of kinematics, the inverse-kinematic problem is solved using positions, velocities, and accelerations of the actuated joints with respect to the position, orientation, and motion of the platform. Accordingly, the main objective of this study is to dynamically model the manipulator using the Newton–Euler approach. For validation, the obtained dynamic model of the Hexarot manipulator is simulated in MATLAB based on the formulations presented in this paper. The kinematic and dynamic models of the manipulator are simulated for a given motion scenario using MATLAB and ADAMS. The results of the mathematical model obtained using MATLAB are in good agreement with that using the ADAMS model, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model.
Travelling wave solutions for a thin-film equation related to the spin-coating process
Authors: GNANN M. V. , KIM H. J. , KNÜPFER H.
Published: July 2017

We study a problem related to the spin-coating process in which a fluid coats a rotating surface. Our interest lies in the contact-line region for which we propose a simplified travelling wave approximation. We construct solutions to this problem by a shooting method that matches solution branches in the contact-line region and in the interior of the droplet. Furthermore, we prove uniqueness and qualitative properties of the solution connected to the fourth-order nature of the equation, such as a global maximum in the film height close to the contact line, elevated from the average height of the film.
EXPLAINING THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. HOUSING MARKET
Authors: Seok Byoung Hoon , You Hye Mi
Published: July 2017

Over the past few decades, both the relative price of housing structures and housing services consumption relative to nondurables increased significantly in the United States. This paper explores demand-side factors such as an increase in idiosyncratic earnings risks and changes in housing institutions as potential explanations for the phenomenon. We build a general equilibrium incomplete markets model of housing and compare two steady states that correspond to the 1967 and 2000 U.S. economies. Our model can generate the simultaneous increase in the relative price of houses and housing services consumption relative to nondurables. We find that the increased earnings risks are crucial in replicating this pattern.
Memory retrieval and sentence processing: Differences between native and non-native speakers
Authors: ABUTALEBI JUBIN , CLAHSEN HARALD
Published: July 2017

Efficient comprehension of sentences requires rapidly and continuously accessing and integrating different sources of information in real time. Psycholinguists have developed detailed models and theories to account for the processes involved in on-line sentence comprehension as well as a number of sophisticated experimental designs for studying these processes. But how about real-time sentence processing in bilinguals? The study of bilingual sentence processing has received considerable attention and has led to a remarkable growth of experimental studies over the last 10 years. The focus of these studies has been on late bilinguals, i.e., on second-language (L2) learners who learned a non-native language after early childhood, as adolescents or adults. These studies have revealed both similarities and differences between native (L1) and non-native (L2) sentence processing. Several proposals have been made to account for the experimental findings, but the significance and nature of native vs. non-native differences in sentence processing has remained controversial. Some researchers have claimed that L1 and L2 sentence processing are essentially the same and that observed performance differences between native and non-native sentence comprehension are due to peripheral factors, e.g., decoding problems, working memory limitations, slower processing speed, difficulties with lexical access and retrieval, or a reduced ability to predict during L2 processing (e.g., McDonald, 2006; Hopp, 2016; Kaan, 2014). Others have posited more substantial differences between L1 and L2 processing. One prominent proposal is Clahsen and Felser's (2006a, b) Shallow-Structure Hypothesis (SSH). Assuming multi-stream models of language processing (e.g., Ferreira & Patson, 2007) with two routes from form to meaning, a heuristic one that employs surface-form information, lexical and semantic cues, and an algorithmic route that relies on a full grammatical parse, the SSH holds that L2 processing relies less on grammatical and more on non-grammatical information sources, in comparison to L1 processing of syntactic (and morphological) phenomena.
Quantifying the critical thickness of electron hybridization in spintronics materials
Authors: Pincelli T. , Lollobrigida V. , Borgatti F. , Regoutz A. , Gobaut B. , Schlueter C. , Lee T. -L. , Payne D. J. , Oura M. , Tamasaku K. , Petrov A. Y. , Graziosi P. , Granozio F. Miletto , Cavallini M. , Vinai G. , Ciprian R. , Back C. H. , Rossi G. , Taguchi M. , Daimon H. , van der Laan G. , Panaccione G.
Published: July 2017

In the rapidly growing field of spintronics, simultaneous control of electronic and magnetic properties is essential, and the perspective of building novel phases is directly linked to the control of tuning parameters, for example, thickness and doping. Looking at the relevant effects in interface-driven spintronics, the reduced symmetry at a surface and interface corresponds to a severe modification of the overlap of electron orbitals, that is, to a change of electron hybridization. Here we report a chemically and magnetically sensitive depth-dependent analysis of two paradigmatic systems, namely La1−xSrxMnO3 and (Ga,Mn)As. Supported by cluster calculations, we find a crossover between surface and bulk in the electron hybridization/correlation and we identify a spectroscopic fingerprint of bulk metallic character and ferromagnetism versus depth. The critical thickness and the gradient of hybridization are measured, setting an intrinsic limit of 3 and 10 unit cells from the surface, respectively, for (Ga,Mn)As and La1−xSrxMnO3, for fully restoring bulk properties.
Prioritizing multiple therapeutic targets in parallel using automated DNA-encoded library screening
Authors: Machutta Carl A. , Kollmann Christopher S. , Lind Kenneth E. , Bai Xiaopeng , Chan Pan F. , Huang Jianzhong , Ballell Lluis , Belyanskaya Svetlana , Besra Gurdyal S. , Barros-Aguirre David , Bates Robert H. , Centrella Paolo A. , Chang Sandy S. , Chai Jing , Choudhry Anthony E. , Coffin Aaron , Davie Christopher P. , Deng Hongfeng , Deng Jianghe , Ding Yun , Dodson Jason W. , Fosbenner David T. , Gao Enoch N. , Graham Taylor L. , Graybill Todd L. , Ingraham Karen , Johnson Walter P. , King Bryan W. , Kwiatkowski Christopher R. , Lelièvre Joël , Li Yue , Liu Xiaorong , Lu Quinn , Lehr Ruth , Mendoza-Losana Alfonso , Martin John , McCloskey Lynn , McCormick Patti , O’Keefe Heather P. , O’Keeffe Thomas , Pao Christina , Phelps Christopher B. , Qi Hongwei , Rafferty Keith , Scavello Genaro S. , Steiginga Matt S. , Sundersingh Flora S. , Sweitzer Sharon M. , Szewczuk Lawrence M. , Taylor Amy , Toh May Fern , Wang Juan , Wang Minghui , Wilkins Devan J. , Xia Bing , Yao Gang , Zhang Jean , Zhou Jingye , Donahue Christine P. , Messer Jeffrey A. , Holmes David , Arico-Muendel Christopher C. , Pope Andrew J. , Gross Jeffrey W. , Evindar Ghotas
Published: July 2017

The identification and prioritization of chemically tractable therapeutic targets is a significant challenge in the discovery of new medicines. We have developed a novel method that rapidly screens multiple proteins in parallel using DNA-encoded library technology (ELT). Initial efforts were focused on the efficient discovery of antibacterial leads against 119 targets from Acinetobacter baumannii and Staphylococcus aureus. The success of this effort led to the hypothesis that the relative number of ELT binders alone could be used to assess the ligandability of large sets of proteins. This concept was further explored by screening 42 targets from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Active chemical series for six targets from our initial effort as well as three chemotypes for DHFR from M. tuberculosis are reported. The findings demonstrate that parallel ELT selections can be used to assess ligandability and highlight opportunities for successful lead and tool discovery.
Genome editing abrogates angiogenesis in vivo
Authors: Huang Xionggao , Zhou Guohong , Wu Wenyi , Duan Yajian , Ma Gaoen , Song Jingyuan , Xiao Ru , Vandenberghe Luk , Zhang Feng , D’Amore Patricia A. , Lei Hetian
Published: July 2017

Angiogenesis, in which vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) 2 plays an essential role, is associated with a variety of human diseases including proliferative diabetic retinopathy and wet age-related macular degeneration. Here we report that a system of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated endonuclease (Cas)9 from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) is used to deplete VEGFR2 in vascular endothelial cells (ECs), whereby the expression of SpCas9 is driven by an endothelial-specific promoter of intercellular adhesion molecule 2. We further show that recombinant AAV serotype 1 (rAAV1) transduces ECs of pathologic vessels, and that editing of genomic VEGFR2 locus using rAAV1-mediated CRISPR/Cas9 abrogates angiogenesis in the mouse models of oxygen-induced retinopathy and laser-induced choroid neovascularization. This work establishes a strong foundation for genome editing as a strategy to treat angiogenesis-associated diseases.
Evasion of immunosurveillance by genomic alterations of PPARγ/RXRα in bladder cancer
Authors: Korpal Manav , Puyang Xiaoling , Jeremy Wu Zhenhua , Seiler Roland , Furman Craig , Oo Htoo Zarni , Seiler Michael , Irwin Sean , Subramanian Vanitha , Julie Joshi Jaya , Wang Chris K. , Rimkunas Victoria , Tortora Davide , Yang Hua , Kumar Namita , Kuznetsov Galina , Matijevic Mark , Chow Jesse , Kumar Pavan , Zou Jian , Feala Jacob , Corson Laura , Henry Ryan , Selvaraj Anand , Davis Allison , Bloudoff Kristjan , Douglas James , Kiss Bernhard , Roberts Morgan , Fazli Ladan , Black Peter C. , Fekkes Peter , Smith Peter G. , Warmuth Markus , Yu Lihua , Hao Ming-Hong , Larsen Nicholas , Daugaard Mads , Zhu Ping
Published: July 2017

Muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is an aggressive disease with limited therapeutic options. Although immunotherapies are approved for MIBC, the majority of patients fail to respond, suggesting existence of complementary immune evasion mechanisms. Here, we report that the PPARγ/RXRα pathway constitutes a tumor-intrinsic mechanism underlying immune evasion in MIBC. Recurrent mutations in RXRα at serine 427 (S427F/Y), through conformational activation of the PPARγ/RXRα heterodimer, and focal amplification/overexpression of PPARγ converge to modulate PPARγ/RXRα-dependent transcription programs. Immune cell-infiltration is controlled by activated PPARγ/RXRα that inhibits expression/secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Clinical data sets and an in vivo tumor model indicate that PPARγHigh/RXRαS427F/Y impairs CD8+ T-cell infiltration and confers partial resistance to immunotherapies. Knockdown of PPARγ or RXRα and pharmacological inhibition of PPARγ significantly increase cytokine expression suggesting therapeutic approaches to reviving immunosurveillance and sensitivity to immunotherapies. Our study reveals a class of tumor cell-intrinsic “immuno-oncogenes” that modulate the immune microenvironment of cancer.
Long-term genomic coevolution of host-parasite interaction in the natural environment
Authors: Laanto Elina , Hoikkala Ville , Ravantti Janne , Sundberg Lotta-Riina
Published: July 2017

Antagonistic coevolution of parasite infectivity and host resistance may alter the biological functionality of species, yet these dynamics in nature are still poorly understood. Here we show the molecular details of a long-term phage–bacterium arms race in the environment. Bacteria (Flavobacterium columnare) are generally resistant to phages from the past and susceptible to phages isolated in years after bacterial isolation. Bacterial resistance selects for increased phage infectivity and host range, which is also associated with expansion of phage genome size. We identified two CRISPR loci in the bacterial host: a type II-C locus and a type VI-B locus. While maintaining a core set of conserved spacers, phage-matching spacers appear in the variable ends of both loci over time. The spacers mostly target the terminal end of the phage genomes, which also exhibit the most variation across time, resulting in arms-race-like changes in the protospacers of the coevolving phage population.
High risk of unprecedented UK rainfall in the current climate
Authors: Thompson Vikki , Dunstone Nick J. , Scaife Adam A. , Smith Doug M. , Slingo Julia M. , Brown Simon , Belcher Stephen E.
Published: July 2017

In winter 2013/14 a succession of storms hit the UK leading to record rainfall and flooding in many regions including south east England. In the Thames river valley there was widespread flooding, with clean-up costs of over £1 billion. There was no observational precedent for this level of rainfall. Here we present analysis of a large ensemble of high-resolution initialised climate simulations to show that this event could have been anticipated, and that in the current climate there remains a high chance of exceeding the observed record monthly rainfall totals in many regions of the UK. In south east England there is a 7% chance of exceeding the current rainfall record in at least one month in any given winter. Expanding our analysis to some other regions of England and Wales the risk increases to a 34% chance of breaking a regional record somewhere each winter.
Sample-based approach can outperform the classical dynamical analysis - experimental confirmation of the basin stability method
Authors: Brzeski P. , Wojewoda J. , Kapitaniak T. , Kurths J. , Perlikowski P.
Published: July 2017

In this paper we show the first broad experimental confirmation of the basin stability approach. The basin stability is one of the sample-based approach methods for analysis of the complex, multidimensional dynamical systems. We show that investigated method is a reliable tool for the analysis of dynamical systems and we prove that it has a significant advantages which make it appropriate for many applications in which classical analysis methods are difficult to apply. We study theoretically and experimentally the dynamics of a forced double pendulum. We examine the ranges of stability for nine different solutions of the system in a two parameter space, namely the amplitude and the frequency of excitation. We apply the path-following and the extended basin stability methods (Brzeski et al., Meccanica 51(11), 2016) and we verify obtained theoretical results in experimental investigations. Comparison of the presented results show that the sample-based approach offers comparable precision to the classical method of analysis. However, it is much simpler to apply and can be used despite the type of dynamical system and its dimensions. Moreover, the sample-based approach has some unique advantages and can be applied without the precise knowledge of parameter values.
Synthesis and thermochromic property studies on W doped VO2 films fabricated by sol-gel method
Authors: Pan Guoping , Yin Jinhua , Ji Keli , Li Xiang , Cheng Xingwang , Jin Haibo , Liu Jiping
Published: July 2017

Tungsten-doped VO2 thin films have been synthesized by a modified sol–gel process and followed by a post annealing. Vanadium pentoxide and tungstic acid as raw materials with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, concentrated hydrochloric acid (catalyst) and oxalic acid used as reducing agent were reacted in isobutanol. Finally, the uniform sol of vanadyl oxalate in isobutanol solvent was obtained as precursor. Detailed study suggested that W doped in VO2 introduces additional electron carriers and induces the formation of V3+. Post annealing under vacuum promotes the releasing of chemical stress and generates oxygen vacancies in the samples. Temperature dependent transmittance study revealed that the releasing of chemical stress and deliberately introducing oxygen vacancies in W-doped VO2 films have positive effects on enhancing its switching ability in the infrared transmittance as the metal-insulator transition (MIT) occurs. The largest switching of transmittance was obtained about 48% in the infrared range at 43 °C in 1.5%W doped VO2 films, which is significantly larger than the reported ones. The findings in this work open a new way to synthesize the novel and thermochromic W doped VO2 films with facility and low cost. Therefore, it has extensive application to construct smart windows and electronic devices.
Computation of Equilibrium Bilayer Monodisperse Foam Structures Using the Surface Evolver
Authors: Li Fuyang , Zhang Chengchuan , Brakke K. A. , Lei Zuosheng
Published: July 2017

The Surface Evolver is used to minimize the surface energy of two ordered structures for bilayer monodisperse wet foams with arbitrary liquid fraction. Previous researchers have found a reversible structural transition in bilayer monodisperse foams by changing the foam liquid fraction in a physical experiment. We simulated this phenomenon by analyzing the interfacial energy of two bilayer foam systems with varying liquid fractions. The calculations reported here show that the Tóth structure is energy minimizing when the liquid fraction is below a critical value, around 2.26%, above which point the honeycomb structure becomes preferable, although the Tóth structure remains metastable.
Activation of Dinitrogen as A Dipolarophile in 1,3-Dipolar Cycloadditions: A Theoretical Study Using Nitrile Imines as “Octet” 1,3-Dipoles
Authors: Montero-Campillo M. Merced , Alkorta Ibon , Elguero José
Published: July 2017

Theoretical calculations at the G4MP2 level of theory demonstrate that it is possible to activate dinitrogen to make it react in dipolar cycloadditions using neutral beryllium derivatives and other neutral metallic compounds. For the particular case of beryllium, the barrier decreases more than 40 kJ·mol–1 with respect to the non-catalysed reaction. The activation achieved is lower than using diazonium salts (models of protonated N2), but still in a range that can be experimentally attainable.
Two visual working memory representations simultaneously control attention
Authors: Chen Yanan , Du Feng
Published: July 2017

It has been proposed that only one visual working memory (VWM) representation can be activated to influence perception directly, whereas other VWM representations are accessory items which have little influence on visual selection. The sole active VWM representation might reflect a fundamental bottleneck in the information processing of human beings. However, the present study showed that each of two VWM representations can capture attention and interfere with concurrent visual search. In addition, each of two VWM representations can interfere with concurrent visual search as much as can a single cued VWM representation. Moreover, when two memory-matching distractors appear in visual search, two VWM representations produce a larger memory-driven capture effect than a single memory-matching distractor. Thus, two VWM representations can simultaneously control attention.
Interleukin 37 promotes angiogenesis through TGF-β signaling
Authors: Zhao Mengmeng , Hu Yongguang , Jin Jiayi , Yu Ying , Zhang Shanshan , Cao Jingjing , Zhai Yuanfen , Wei Rongbin , Shou Juanjuan , Cai Wenping , Liu Shangfeng , Yang Xiaoping , Xu Guo-Tong , Yang Jianhua , Corry David B. , Su Shao Bo , Liu Xialin , Yang Tianshu
Published: July 2017

IL-37 is a novel pro-angiogenic cytokine that potently promotes endothelial cell activation and pathological angiogenesis in our previous study, but the mechanisms behind the pro-angiogenic effect of IL-37 are less well understood. Extending our observations, we found that TGF-β interacts with IL-37, and potently enhances the binding affinity of IL-37 to the ALK1 receptor complex, thus allowing IL-37 to signal through ALK1 to activate pro-angiogenic responses. We further show that TGF-β and ALK1 are required in IL-37 induced pro-angiogenic response in ECs and in the mouse model of Matrigel plug and oxygen-induced retinopathy. The result suggests that IL-37 induces pro-angiogenic responses through TGF-β, which may act as the bridging molecule that mediates IL-37 binding to the TGF-β receptor complex.
Quantum Thermalization and the Expansion of Atomic Clouds
Authors: Rademaker Louk , Zaanen Jan
Published: July 2017

The ultimate consequence of quantum many-body physics is that even the air we breathe is governed by strictly unitary time evolution. The reason that we perceive it nonetheless as a completely classical high temperature gas is due to the incapacity of our measurement machines to keep track of the dense many-body entanglement of the gas molecules. The question thus arises whether there are instances where the quantum time evolution of a macroscopic system is qualitatively different from the equivalent classical system? Here we study this question through the expansion of noninteracting atomic clouds. While in many cases the full quantum dynamics is indeed indistinguishable from classical ballistic motion, we do find a notable exception. The subtle quantum correlations in a Bose gas approaching the condensation temperature appear to affect the expansion of the cloud, as if the system has turned into a diffusive collision-full classical system.
Densimetry for the Quantification of Sorption Phenomena on Nonporous Media Near the Dew Point of Fluid Mixtures
Authors: Richter Markus , McLinden Mark O.
Published: July 2017

Phase equilibria of fluid mixtures are important in numerous industrial applications and are, thus, a major focus of thermophysical property research. Improved data, particularly along the dew line, are needed to improve model predictions. Here we present experimental results utilizing highly accurate densimetry to quantify the effects of sorption and capillary condensation, which exert a distorting influence on measured properties near the dew line. We investigate the (pressure, density, temperature, composition) behaviour of binary (CH4 + C3H8) and (Ar + CO2) mixtures over the temperature range from (248.15 to 273.15) K starting at low pressures and increasing in pressure towards the dew point along isotherms. Three distinct regions are observed: (1) minor sorption effects in micropores at low pressures; (2) capillary condensation followed by wetting in macro-scale surface scratches beginning approximately 2% below the dew-point pressure; (3) bulk condensation. We hypothesize that the true dew point lies within the second region.
Hypersaline sapropels act as hotspots for microbial dark matter
Authors: Andrei Adrian-Ştefan , Baricz Andreea , Robeson Michael Scott , Păuşan Manuela Raluca , Tămaş Tudor , Chiriac Cecilia , Szekeres Edina , Barbu-Tudoran Lucian , Levei Erika Andrea , Coman Cristian , Podar Mircea , Banciu Horia Leonard
Published: July 2017

Present-day terrestrial analogue sites are crucial ground truth proxies for studying life in geochemical conditions close to those assumed to be present on early Earth or inferred to exist on other celestial bodies (e.g. Mars, Europa). Although hypersaline sapropels are border-of-life habitats with moderate occurrence, their microbiological and physicochemical characterization lags behind. Here, we study the diversity of life under low water activity by describing the prokaryotic communities from two disparate hypersaline sapropels (Transylvanian Basin, Romania) in relation to geochemical milieu and pore water chemistry, while inferring their role in carbon cycling by matching taxa to known taxon-specific biogeochemical functions. The polyphasic approach combined deep coverage SSU rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and bioinformatics with RT-qPCR and physicochemical investigations. We found that sapropels developed an analogous elemental milieu and harbored prokaryotes affiliated with fifty-nine phyla, among which the most abundant were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Chloroflexi. Containing thirty-two candidate divisions and possibly undocumented prokaryotic lineages, the hypersaline sapropels were found to accommodate one of the most diverse and novel ecosystems reported to date and may contribute to completing the phylogenetic branching of the tree of life.
Recent Wetting and Glacier Expansion in the Northwest Himalaya and Karakoram
Authors: Yadav Ram R. , Gupta Anil K. , Kotlia Bahadur S. , Singh Vikram , Misra Krishna G. , Yadava Akhilesh K. , Singh Anoop K.
Published: July 2017

Hydroclimatic variability driven by global warming in the climatically vulnerable cold semi-arid to arid northwest (NW) Himalaya is poorly constrained due to paucity of continuous weather records and annually resolved proxies. Applying a network of annually resolved tree-ring-width chronologies from semi-arid region of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, we reconstructed April-May standardized precipitation index extending back to A.D. 1439 (576 years). The reconstructed series is featured by the most conspicuous long-term droughts during the 15th to early 17th centuries followed by a general wetting, with 1984–2014 being the wettest interval in the past 576 years. The data, consistent with other independently developed tree-ring-based hydrological records from cold semi-arid to arid NW Himalaya and Karakoram, point to an increased regional wetting in the recent decades. Such an increased wetting might have led to the anomalous behaviour of glaciers in the NW Himalaya and Karakoram in contrast to the general receding trends in the central and eastern Himalaya.
Design of new Mott multiferroics via complete charge transfer: promising candidates for bulk photovoltaics
Authors: Chen Hanghui , Millis Andrew
Published: July 2017

Optimal materials to induce bulk photovoltaic effects should lack inversion symmetry and have an optical gap matching the energies of visible radiation. Ferroelectric perovskite oxides such as BaTiO3 and PbTiO3 exhibit substantial polarization and stability, but have the disadvantage of excessively large band gaps. We use both density functional theory and dynamical mean field theory calculations to design a new class of Mott multiferroics–double perovskite oxides A2VFeO6 (A = Ba, Pb, etc). While neither perovskite AVO3 nor AFeO3 is ferroelectric, in the double perovskite A2VFeO6 a ‘complete’ charge transfer from V to Fe leads to a non-bulk-like charge configuration–an empty V-d shell and a half-filled Fe-d shell, giving rise to a polarization comparable to that of ferroelectric ATiO3. Different from nonmagnetic ATiO3, the new double perovskite oxides have an antiferromagnetic ground state and around room temperatures, are paramagnetic Mott insulators. Most importantly, the V d0 state significantly reduces the band gap of A2VFeO6, making it smaller than that of ATiO3 and BiFeO3 and rendering the new multiferroics a promising candidate to induce bulk photovoltaic effects.
MAIT cells accumulate in placental intervillous space and display a highly cytotoxic phenotype upon bacterial stimulation
Authors: Solders Martin , Gorchs Laia , Erkers Tom , Lundell Anna-Carin , Nava Silvia , Gidlöf Sebastian , Tiblad Eleonor , Magalhaes Isabelle , Kaipe Helen
Published: July 2017

During pregnancy, the maternal immune system must tolerate the developing foetus, and yet retain a potent antimicrobial response to prevent infections. Mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells recognize microbial-derived vitamin B metabolites presented on the MR1 molecule, but their presence and function at the foetal-maternal interface is not known. We here isolated mononuclear cells from paired samples of peripheral blood (PB), intervillous blood (IVB), and decidua parietalis (DP) following uncomplicated term pregnancies. Interestingly, MAIT cells were highly enriched in IVB compared to PB and DP. The activation status of IVB MAIT cells was similar to that of PB MAIT cells, except for a lower expression of PD-1. Both IVB MAIT cells and conventional T cells were more dominated by an effector memory phenotype compared to PB MAIT cells and T cells. IVB MAIT cells also responded more vigorously with expression of IFN-γ, granzyme B, and perforin in response toEscherichia colistimulation compared to PB. MR1 was not expressed in syncytiotrophoblasts, but in placental villous and decidual macrophages. These data indicate that maternal MAIT cells accumulate in the intervillous space of the placenta and that they are highly armed to quickly respond if bacteria are encountered at the foetal-maternal interface.
Trypanosoma brucei growth control by TNF in mammalian host is independent of the soluble form of the cytokine
Authors: Vanwalleghem Gilles , Morias Yannick , Beschin Alain , Szymkowski David E. , Pays Etienne
Published: July 2017

Infection of C57Bl/6 mice by pleomorphic African trypanosomesTrypanosoma brucei and T. congolenseis characterized by parasitemia waves coupled with the production of systemic levels of TNF. This cytokine is known to controlT. bruceigrowth, but also to contribute to tissue damage, shortening the survival time of infected mice. Using a dominant-negative version of TNF to discriminate between the effects of the membrane-form versus the soluble form of TNF, we show that the second form is involved in neither parasite control nor induction of liver injury. Therefore, soluble TNF is likely not a major contributor to disease outcome. We propose that membrane-bound TNF is responsible for bothT. bruceicontrol and host pathology.
Scenarios of polaron-involved molecular adsorption on reduced TiO2(110) surfaces
Authors: Cao Yunjun , Yu Min , Qi Shandong , Huang Shiming , Wang Tingting , Xu Mingchun , Hu Shujun , Yan Shishen
Published: July 2017

The polaron introduced by the oxygen vacancy (Vo) dominates many surface adsorption processes and chemical reactions on reduced oxide surfaces. Based on IR spectra and DFT calculations of NO and CO adsorption, we gave two scenarios of polaron-involved molecular adsorption on reduced TiO2(110) surfaces. For NO adsorption, the subsurface polaron electron transfers to a Ti:3d-NO:2p hybrid orbital mainly on NO, leading to the large redshifts of vibration frequencies of NO. For CO adsorption, the polaron only transfers to a Ti:3d state of the surface Ti5c cation underneath CO, and thus only a weak shift of vibration frequency of CO was observed. These scenarios are determined by the energy-level matching between the polaron state and the LUMO of adsorbed molecules, which plays a crucial role in polaron-adsorbate interaction and related catalytic reactions on reduced oxide surfaces.
Differentiating malignant from benign thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology by 99mTc-MIBI scan: a new quantitative method for improving diagnostic accuracy
Authors: Campennì A. , Siracusa M. , Ruggeri R. M. , Laudicella R. , Pignata S. A. , Baldari S. , Giovanella L.
Published: July 2017

Quantitative99mTc-MIBI thyroid scintigraphy is a useful tool in differentiating malignant from benign thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology. The aim of our report is to compare the diagnostic performance of different quantitative methods. We prospectively evaluated 20 patients affected by a thyroid nodule with a cytological diagnosis of class III or IV according to the Bethesda system. Planar images of the thyroid were acquired 10 and 60 minutes after99mTc-MIBI administration and two different quantitative methods applied (i.e. wash-out index, WOind;retention index, R.I.). All patients underwent lobectomy or thyroidectomy and final histological findings were matched with MIBI results obtained with both quantitative methods. Four out of 20 patients had a final histological result of differentiated thyroid cancer, while benign findings were found in the remaining cases. Overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV were 100% in all for the WOindand 100%, 57.1%, 62.5%, 25% for the R.I., respectively. In conclusion99mTc-semiquantitative MIBI thyroid scintigraphy with WOindcalculation is highly accurate in differential diagnosis of nodules with indeterminate cytology reading.
Impact of hierarchical pore structure on the catalytic performances of MFI zeolites modified by ZnO for the conversion of methanol to aromatics
Authors: Shen Xinquan , Kang Jincan , Niu Wei , Wang Mengheng , Zhang Qinghong , Wang Ye
Published: July 2017

The increase in the pore hierarchy of ZnO/hierarchical H-ZSM-5 catalysts increased the catalyst stability and the yield of aromatics, particularly BTX, from methanol.
Bi metal-modified Bi4O5I2 hierarchical microspheres with oxygen vacancies for improved photocatalytic performance and mechanism insights
Authors: Liu Xiufan , Xiong Xuyang , Ding Shuoping , Jiang Qingqing , Hu Juncheng
Published: July 2017

In this work, we firstly synthesized metallic Bi-modified Bi4O5I2 nanocomposites with oxygen vacancies via a facile one-pot solvothermal method.
Broadband room temperature strong coupling between quantum dots and metamaterials
Authors: Indukuri Chaitanya , Yadav Ravindra Kumar , Basu J. K.
Published: July 2017

Super-radiance and enhanced local density of optical states induced strong coupling between quantum dots and hyperbolic metamaterials.
Synthesis of amphiphilic fluorescent polymers via a one-pot combination of multicomponent Hantzsch reaction and RAFT polymerization and their cell imaging applications
Authors: Huang Zengfang , Chen Qiaomei , Wan Qing , Wang Ke , Yuan Jinying , Zhang Xiaoyong , Tao Lei , Wei Yen
Published: July 2017

A novel one-pot strategy for the fabrication of AIE-based FONs was developed via the combination of RAFT polymerization and the Hantzsch reaction for the first time.
Multifunctional odorless isocyano(triphenylphosphoranylidene)-acetates: synthesis and direct one-pot four-component Ugi/Wittig cyclization to multisubstituted oxazoles
Authors: Ren Zhi-Lin , Guan Zhi-Rong , Kong Han-Han , Ding Ming-Wu
Published: July 2017

A new one-step four-component synthesis of multisubstituted oxazoles has been developed.
Catalytic upgrading of carboxylic acids as bio-oil models over hierarchical ZSM-5 obtained via an organosilane approach
Authors: Rodponthukwaji Kamonlatth , Wattanakit Chularat , Yutthalekha Thittaya , Assavapanumat Sunpet , Warakulwit Chompunuch , Wannapakdee Wannaruedee , Limtrakul Jumras
Published: July 2017

Biomass is an interesting renewable energy resource as it is widespread in nature and low cost.
Difference in solid-state properties and enzymatic degradation of three kinds of poly(butylene succinate)/cellulose blends
Authors: Hu Xueyan , Su Tingting , Pan Wenjing , Li Ping , Wang Zhanyong
Published: July 2017

Mechanical and crystalline properties of PBS/CMC and PBS/CA blends were improved and their enzymolysis was better than for a PBS/CTA blend.