Estimation of gradient size of interfacial strain and its optimization for effective magnetoelectric coupling in (CoFe2O4) – (0.93Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 – 0.07BaTiO3), 2-2 nano-composites

Strain-mediated coupling between the magnetic and electrically ordered phases plays a significant role in magnetoelectric (ME) nano-composites. This study explores a method to analyse and quantify interfacial strain using a grazing angle scan (α) in a ME composite optimised for a specific microstructure. The details of strain around the interface CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) – 0.93Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ – 0.07BaTiO₃ (NBT-BT) was determined by performing ‘α’ scan, in order to gather information at various depths of the NBT-BT layer around maximum intensity (110) reflection. The strain around the interface was observed to dominate over a spatial region of ～20–30 nm away from the interface. The Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) studies performed near the interface reveal that the strain constrain experienced by the ferroelectric layer operates such that polarisation rotation and domain wall motion are constrained compared to the strain relaxed region of the film. For effective strain transfer, heterostructures grown with optimised thicknesses (～20–30 nm) exhibited a superior inverse piezomagnetic effect.     

The Chemistry of DPPH· Free Radical and Congeners

Since the discovery in 1922 of 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) hydrazyl stable free radical (DPPH^·), the chemistry of such open-shell compounds has developed continuously, allowing for both theoretical and practical advances in the free radical chemistry area. This review presents the important, general and modern aspects of the chemistry of hydrazyl free radicals and the science behind it.     

凌庄子水厂保水堰流量系数试验

凌庄子水厂蓄水池进水口处有一保水堰,为非标准薄壁堰,不能使用已有堰流公式对其过流量进行准确计算。为了得出较为精确的过流流量,按照重力相似准则制作几何比尺为1∶5的模型进行试验研究。在已有自由出流公式的基础上,对自由出流流量系数进行修正并对淹没情况下流量变化过程进行研究。对该非标准堰自由出流流量系数的实测值与经验值进行分析比较,发现堰板槽降低了实际自由出流过流能力。淹没出流的流量系数主要与下游尾水位有关,试验中形成的淹没式堰流受实际堰型尺寸影响,下游尾水位和堰上水位近似相等,不完全适用已有淹没出流流量公式,通过试验给出了修正淹没系数随h/p的变化关系。结果表明利用堰前、堰后水位初步计算过流流量是可行的,可为该工程提供参考,也可为实际工程中非标准矩形堰的流量计算提供思路。     

Lipidomic Analysis of Plasma from Healthy Men and Women Shows Phospholipid Class and Molecular Species Differences between Sexes

The phospholipid composition of lipoproteins is determined by the specificity of hepatic phospholipid biosynthesis. Plasma phospholipid 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3 concentrations are higher in women than in men. We used this sex difference in a lipidomics analysis of the impact of endocrine factors on the phospholipid class and molecular species composition of fasting plasma from young men and women. Diester species predominated in all lipid classes measured. 20/54 Phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) species were alkyl ester, 15/48 phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) species were alkyl ester, and 12/48 PtdEtn species were alkenyl ester. There were no significant differences between sexes in the proportions of alkyl PtdCho species. The proportion of alkyl ester PtdEtn species was greater in women than men, while the proportion of alkenyl ester PtdEtn species was greater in men than women. None of the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) or phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) molecular species contained ether-linked fatty acids. The proportion of PtdCho16:0_22:6, and the proportions of PtdEtn O-16:0_20:4 and PtdEtn O-18:2_20:4 were greater in women than men. There were no sex differences in PtdIns and PtdSer molecular species compositions. These findings show that plasma phospholipids can be modified by sex. Such differences in lipoprotein phospholipid composition could contribute to sexual dimorphism in patterns of health and disease.     

水杨酸处理诱导采后甜瓜抗坏血酸-还原型谷胱甘肽循环代谢清除过氧化氢的作用及机制

目的：研究抗坏血酸（ascorbic acid，AsA）-还原型谷胱甘肽（reduced glutathione，GSH）循环代谢在水杨酸处理采后甜瓜诱导的过量H2O2清除过程中的作用。方法：用4 mmol/L水杨酸浸泡‘玉金香’厚皮甜瓜10 min，测定处理后果实常温贮藏过程中丙二醛（malondialdehyde，MDA）含量，分析活性氧的积累水平、超氧化物歧化酶（superoxide dismutase，SOD）和过氧化氢酶（catalase，CAT）活力，以及AsA-GSH循环过程相关酶活力及产物和底物含量。结果：水杨酸处理降低了果实MDA含量，第10天处理组MDA含量较对照组降低14.6%；显著提高了果实O2－·的产生速率和H2O2含量（P＜0.05），其中处理后第2天O2－·的产生速率高出同期对照组的1.9 倍，第6天H2O2含量高出对照组果实29.7%；提高了果实SOD活力，但抑制了CAT活力，说明H2O2的清除可能是依赖于除酶促系统外的其他系统。此外，水杨酸处理提高了果实抗坏血酸过氧化物酶、单脱氢抗坏血酸过氧化物酶、脱氢抗坏血酸还原酶和谷胱甘肽还原酶的活力，增加了AsA和氧化型谷胱甘肽的含量，降低了脱氢抗坏血酸和GSH的含量。结论：水杨酸处理诱导了厚皮甜瓜果实的氧爆，抑制了MDA产生，由水杨酸诱导产生的过量H2O2主要依靠AsA-GSH循环系统清除。     

Plant Copper Amine Oxidases: Key Players in Hormone Signaling Leading to Stress-Induced Phenotypic Plasticity

Polyamines are ubiquitous, low-molecular-weight aliphatic compounds, present in living organisms and essential for cell growth and differentiation. Copper amine oxidases (CuAOs) oxidize polyamines to aminoaldehydes releasing ammonium and hydrogen peroxide, which participates in the complex network of reactive oxygen species acting as signaling molecules involved in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. CuAOs have been identified and characterized in different plant species, but the most extensive study on a CuAO gene family has been carried out in Arabidopsis thaliana. Growing attention has been devoted in the last years to the investigation of the CuAO expression pattern during development and in response to an array of stress and stress-related hormones, events in which recent studies have highlighted CuAOs to play a key role by modulation of a multilevel phenotypic plasticity expression. In this review, the attention will be focused on the involvement of different AtCuAOs in the IAA/JA/ABA signal transduction pathways which mediate stress-induced phenotypic plasticity events.     

Effect of low temperature crystallization on 58S bioactive glass sintering and compressive strength

Mesoporous glass 58S (60SiO₂, 36CaO, 4P₂O₅ mol.%) has excellent bioactivity, biocompatibility, and forms strong bonds with bone making it attractive for implants. Mesoporous bioactive glass 58S powder is typically consolidated through sintering in order to produce an implant with sufficient strength to withstand the in vivo loads. However, heating the glass often leads to crystallinity, which is undesirable because it can reduce bioactivity. Hence, there is a trade-off between minimising crystallinity and maximising glass strength. Even at relatively low temperatures, it has been suggested that segregation of calcium and phosphate from silica within the glass can lead to crystallization. In this work, we confirm the occurrence of low temperature segregation in bioactive glass 58S using electron microscopy with elemental mapping. We probe how segregation affects the material properties of post-sintered glasses via comparison to a glass where phase separation is prevented via addition citric acid to the parent sol.     

Phytic acid-assisted fabrication of superhydrophilic Ru 3D electrode for electrocatalytic hydrogenation of p-Nitrophenol

A superhydrophilic Ru-based 3D electrode, denoted as Ru-PA/NF, was fabricated under the assistance of phytic acid (PA) for electrocatalytic hydrogenation of p-Nitrophenol. PA serves as a multifunctional modulator to facilitate the dispersion of active Ru species in porous nickel foam (NF), meanwhile enhance the surface wettability as well as adjust the micromorphology. In alkaline media, the Ru-PA/NF electrode shows the PNP conversion of 94.68% and the PAP selectivity of 99% after 9 h, accompanied by the faraday efficiency (FE) of 73.15%. Over the superhydrophilic Ru-PA/NF the rate constant of PNP conversion into PAP is 2.62-times higher than that over the hydrophobic Ru/NF prepared without the aid of PA, and FE of Ru-PA/NF is 1.28-times higher than Ru/NF. This can be ascribed to intriguing features of Ru-PA/NF involving higher Ru loading, more exposed sites, superior electrolyte wetting along with faster charge transfer rate.     

Metal chlorides-promoted ammonia absorption of deep eutectic solvent

Ammonia is considered as a promising hydrogen or energy carrier. Ammonia absorption or adsorption is an important aspect for both ammonia removal, storage and separation applications. To these ends, a wide range of solid and liquid sorbents have been investigated. Among these, the deep eutectic solvent (DES) is emerging as a promising class of ammonia absorbers. Herein, we report a novel type of DES, i.e., metal-containing DESs for ammonia absorption. Specifically, the NH₃ absorption capacity is enhanced by ca. 18.1–36.9% when a small amount of metal chlorides, such as MgCl₂, MnCl₂ etc., are added into a DES composed of resorcinol (Res) and ethylene glycol (EG). To our knowledge, the MgCl₂/Res/EG (0.1:1:2) DES outperforms most of the reported DESs. The excellent NH₃ absorption performances of metal–containing DESs have been attributed to the synergy of Lewis acid–base and hydrogen bonding interactions. Additionally, good reversibility and high NH₃/CO₂ selectivity are achieved over the MgCl₂/Res/EG (0.1:1:2) DES, which enables it to be a potential NH₃ absorber for further investigations.