Noncentrosymmetric Tetrel Pnictides RuSi4P4 and IrSi3P3: Nonlinear Optical Materials with Outstanding Laser Damage Threshold

Noncentrosymmetric (NCS) tetrel pnictides have recently generated interest as nonlinear optical (NLO) materials due to their second harmonic generation (SHG) activity and large laser damage threshold (LDT). Herein nonmetal-rich silicon phosphides RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are synthesized and characterized. Their crystal structures are reinvestigated using single crystal X-ray diffraction and ²⁹Si and ³¹P magic angle spinning NMR. In agreement with previous report RuSi₄P₄ crystallizes in NCS space group P1, while IrSi₃P₃ is found to crystallize in NCS space group Cm, in contrast with the previously reported space group C2. A combination of DFT calculations and diffuse reflectance measurements reveals RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ to be wide bandgap (E_g) semiconductors, E_g = 1.9 and 1.8 eV, respectively. RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ outperform the current state-of-the-art infrared SHG material, AgGaS₂, both in SHG activity and laser inducer damage threshold. Due to the combination of high thermal stabilities (up to 1373 K), wide bandgaps (≈2 eV), NCS crystal structures, strong SHG responses, and large LDT values, RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are promising candidates for longer wavelength NLO materials.     

Theoretical and experimental studies of a new aniline derivative corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in acid medium

4-Chloro-N-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)aniline (CPYA) was synthesized by a simple and inexpensive method and tested as a corrosion inhibitor in acid medium for mild steel by using gravimetric studies and electrochemical measurements. An average maximum efficiency of 96.0% was achieved at 4.59 mmol/L. Corrosion kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were also analyzed. Surface analyses (atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) show that protection is enabled by adsorption on the metal, forming a film. Quantum chemical calculations were performed to access information regarding the molecular structure in the corrosive medium and to support interpretation of the results obtained by experimental methods.     

Omics Analysis of Blood-Responsive Regulon in Bordetella pertussis Identifies a Novel Essential T3SS Substrate

Bacterial pathogens sense specific cues associated with different host niches and integrate these signals to appropriately adjust the global gene expression. Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, strictly human pathogen of the respiratory tract and the etiological agent of whooping cough (pertussis). Though B. pertussis does not cause invasive infections, previous results indicated that this reemerging pathogen responds to blood exposure. Here, omics RNA-seq and LC–MS/MS techniques were applied to determine the blood-responsive regulon of B. pertussis. These analyses revealed that direct contact with blood rewired global gene expression profiles in B. pertussis as the expression of almost 20% of all genes was significantly modulated. However, upon loss of contact with blood, the majority of blood-specific effects vanished, with the exception of several genes encoding the T3SS-secreted substrates. For the first time, the T3SS regulator BtrA was identified in culture supernatants of B. pertussis. Furthermore, proteomic analysis identified BP2259 protein as a novel secreted T3SS substrate, which is required for T3SS functionality. Collectively, presented data indicate that contact with blood represents an important cue for B. pertussis cells.     

A simple design approach to analyse the piled embankment including tensile reinforcement and subsoil contributions

There is not one generally accepted approach for the design of geogrid-reinforced pile-supported (GRPS) embankments. Relevant mechanisms include arching of the embankment material, but also the effect of geogrid reinforcement and potentially a contribution from the underlying subsoil. This paper presents a simple design approach to identify the contribution of all three mechanisms, in which the contribution of multi-layered geogrid reinforcement is also presented. To validate the theoretical predictions for the effect of geogrid reinforcement and the potential contribution of underlying subsoil, a series of three-dimensional finite element analyses are conducted. It is found that a point of ‘maximum arching’ is increased with the height of embankment. This study also presents that the reinforcement could reduce the ultimate stress on the subsoil. However, this requires significant sag of the reinforcement. It is found that the sag of reinforcement is very sensitive to the span of the reinforcement between piles, but relatively insensitive to the stiffness of the reinforcement. For a case with three layers of geogrid, the upper two grids carry relatively little tension compared to the bottom layer. This in turn leads to an approximate but simple equation of vertical equilibrium which may be of use in design.     

Comparison between lipid and protein oxidation progress in the tail and claw muscles of signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus)

Microbial activity and then oxidation progress are the most important freshness indicators during post-mortem. In this study, we monitored proteomic and microbial changes, as well as biochemical degradation, in the tail and claw muscles of crayfish stored for 12 days at +4 °C. One specified protein band at 107 kDa in the claw muscle and two specified protein bands in the tail muscle at 140 and 36–40 kDa were identified. Western blotting indicated a higher amount of oxidised proteins in the tail compared to the claw muscle. Tail muscle showed higher oxidation progress and calpain activity than claw one. Both muscles were spoiled after 12 days with respect to total viable counts. In the first days, calpain activity is the main reason for protein degradation, while protein oxidation dominates for the rest of the time. Lipid–protein oxidation progress showed probably, protein oxidation started earlier than lipid oxidation in both muscles.     

Boosting the photoconversion efficiency of TiO2 nanotubes using UV radiation-assisted anodization as a prospective method: An efficient photocatalyst for eliminating resistant organic pollutants

1D TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TNTs), as versatile nanostructures, have attracted a considerable amount of scientific attention, particularly in photocatalytic applications. In the present study, UV radiation-assisted anodization method with various irradiation times (30–120 min) was employed as a preferable approach to fabricating TNTs with remarkable optical property and photocatalytic activity. The results revealed that in situ irradiation not only improved the surface area (from 30.10 to 48.5 m²), but also increased the roughness factor (from 77.27 to 124.73). Furthermore, UV radiation had a significant impact on optical property and by altering elemental composition, led to a red shift in absorption edge (from 3.2 to 1.4eV). Meanwhile, voltammetric experiments showed that 120 min UV radiation during anodization was able to substantially cause a surge of the photocurrent density and the photoconversion efficiency of TNTs from 0.15 to 0.55 mA cm⁻² and from 13% to 40%, respectively. As a consequence of the improvement in optical property and photochemical features, anodic TNTs fabricated under 120 min UV radiation could increase the photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-DCP from 75% to 100%. Moreover, the kinetics study showed that all photocatalytic reactions followed zero-order kinetics which rate constant over the synthesized TNTs under 120 min UV radiation was about 5.1 times greater than that of conventionally fabricated TNTs. Likewise, the pathway of photocatalytic degradation and the proportion of reactive species in this process were assessed by scavenging tests. The results confirmed that holes (h⁺) play the main role that 53% of photocatalytic degradation occurred via both direct and indirect reactions with h⁺ species. The rest of the degradation pathways were also allocated to e⁻ and ^•O₂⁻ species by accounting for 37% and 10%, respectively.     

Vocal production in postpartum dairy cows: Temporal organization and association with maternal and stress behaviors

Mammalian vocalizations can encode contextual information in both the spectrographic components of their individual vocal units and in their temporal organization. Here we observed 23 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows immediately after birth during interactions with their calf and when their calf was separated to the other side of a fence line. We investigated whether the vocalizations emitted in these postpartum contexts would vary temporally. We also described the maternal and stress behaviors preceding and following postpartum vocal production using kinematic diagrams and characterized call sequence structure. The kinematic diagrams highlight the disruption of maternal responses caused by calf separation and show that behavioral and vocal patterns varied according to the cows' emotional states and proximity to the calf in both contexts. During calf interactions, cows mainly produced closed-mouth calls simultaneous to licking their calf, whereas an escalation of stress responses was observed during calf separation, with the cows approaching the fence line, becoming alert to the calf, and emitting more mixed and open-mouth calls. Call sequences were similarly structured across contexts, mostly containing repetitions of a single call type, with a mean interval of 0.57 s between calls and a greater cumulative vocalization duration, attributed to an increased number of vocal units per sequence. Overall, calf separation was associated with a greater proportion of calls emitted as a sequence (inverse of single isolated calls), a shorter interval between separate call sequences, and a greater number of vocal units per sequence, compared with calf interactions. These temporal vocal features varied predictably with the high stress expression from cows during calf separation and may represent temporal modulations of emotional expression. Despite the noisy farm soundscape, empirical call type and temporal vocal features were easy to measure; thus, findings could be applied to future cattle studies wishing to analyze vocalizations for on-farm welfare assessments.     

建筑工业化发展的多群体演化博弈与仿真研究

新型建筑工业化具有高质量、低消耗、可循环发展等特征，其推广已上升到国家战略层面。利用演化博弈方法，建立“政府-开发商-银行” 的三方动态演化博弈模型，进行各博弈主体策略的演化稳定性分析，并针对初始状态、奖惩力度、借贷风险和开发成本等对演化结果的影响进行动态仿真。在此基础上， 考虑开发商群体的网络拓扑特征对演化真实性的影响，引入复杂网络理论， 以无标度网络为载体描述开发商个体的连接偏好和决策机制，构建政府监管下的建筑工业化扩散模型，并通过仿真深入研究相关因素对扩散深度的影响作用，最后结合仿真结果给出相应对策建议。     

The Adhesion‐Enhanced Contact Electrification and Efficiency of Triboelectric Nanogenerators

In the present work, the contact electrification of polymers that differ in adhesion strength is studied. Electrical current is measured along with adhesion in macroscale contacting‐separation experiments. Additionally, local adhesion and roughness are studied with atomic force microscopy to get deeper insight into relations between surface properties and electrification. Measurements reveal that higher surface charge is formed on more adhesive surfaces, thus confirming covalent bond cleavage as a mechanism for contact electrification of polymers. Investigated materials possess enhanced contact electrification making them attractive candidates for the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical in triboelectric nanogenerator devices.