Solution-processed LiF for work function tuning in electrode bilayers

Although ambient processing is the key to low-cost organic solar cell production, high-vacuum thermal evaporation of LiF is often a limiting step, motivating the exploration of solution processing of LiF as an alternative electrode interlayer. Submonolayer films are realized with the assistance of polymeric micelle reactors that enable LiF particle deposition with controlled nanoscale surface coverage. Scanning Kelvin probe reveals a work function tunable with nanoparticle coverage with higher values than that of bare indium tin oxide (ITO).     

Efficient Functionalisation of Cubic Monovinylsilsesquioxanes via Cross‐Metathesis and Silylative Coupling with Olefins in the Presence of Ruthenium Complexes

Monovinylheptaisobutylsilsesquioxane undergoes efficient cross‐metathesis and silylative coupling with styrenes. Allyl derivatives were successfully tested in cross‐metathesis in the presence of first generation Grubbs’ catalyst, while heteroatom‐substituted vinyl derivatives (vinyl ethers, 9‐vinylcarbazole) efficiently undergo silylative coupling catalysed by ruthenium hydride complexes. Both reactions proceed highly stereoselectively and lead to nearly quantitative formation of E isomers. Only when vinyl ethers are used does the reaction lead to a mixture of stereoisomers. Atmospheric pressure photoionisation has been successfully used for recording mass spectra of the functionalised silsesquioxanes.     

Surface Modification of Ti6Al4V Open Porous Structures Produced by Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing techniques can be used to produce micro‐porous structures with global morphological properties that are highly controlled through robust computer design. Despite these advantages, most of these techniques still hold several functional constraints, resulting from present technical device limits and consequently the inability to control surface morphology at a microscale level. In this study, a novel protocol for surface modification of 3D titanium alloy‐based open porous structures is developed, which applies a combination of chemical etching (CHE) and electrochemical polishing (ECP) using HF‐based solutions. This protocol achieves significant and controllable roughness reduction of additive manufactured 3D Ti6Al4V open porous structures. Chemical etching mainly removes the attached powder grains, while ECP further decreases the roughness. In this way the heterogeneity of the strut surface roughness throughout the full 3D structure is effectively removed.     

Architecture design of the high-throughput compensator and interpolator for the H.265/HEVC encoder

This paper presents the architecture of the high-throughput compensator and the interpolator used in the motion estimation of the H.265/HEVC encoder. The architecture can process 8×8 blocks in each clock cycle. The design allows the random order of checked coding blocks and motion vectors. This feature makes the architecture suitable for different search algorithms. The interpolator embeds 64 multiplierless reconfigurable filter cores to support computations for different fractional-pel positions. Synthesis results show that the design can operate at 200 and 400 MHz when implemented in FPGA Arria II and TSMC 90 nm, respectively. The computational scalability enables the proposed architecture to trade the throughput for the compression efficiency. If 2160p@30fps video is encoded, the design clocked at 400 MHz can check about 100 motion vectors for 8×8 blocks.     

Structure,Biosynthesis, and Biological Activity of Succinylated Forms of Bacteriocin BacSp222

BacSp222 is a multifunctional peptide produced by Staphylococcus pseudintermedius 222. This 50-amino acid long peptide belongs to subclass IId of bacteriocins and forms a four-helix bundle molecule. In addition to bactericidal functions, BacSp222 possesses also features of a virulence factor, manifested in immunomodulatory and cytotoxic activities toward eukaryotic cells. In the present study, we demonstrate that BacSp222 is produced in several post-translationally modified forms, succinylated at the ε-amino group of lysine residues. Such modifications have not been previously described for any bacteriocins. NMR and circular dichroism spectroscopy studies have shown that the modifications do not alter the spatial structure of the peptide. At the same time, succinylation significantly diminishes its bactericidal and cytotoxic potential. We demonstrate that the modification of the bacteriocin is an effect of non-enzymatic reaction with a highly reactive intracellular metabolite, i.e., succinyl-coenzyme A. The production of succinylated forms of the bacteriocin depends on environmental factors and on the access of bacteria to nutrients. Our study indicates that the production of succinylated forms of bacteriocin occurs in response to the changing environment, protects producer cells against the autotoxicity of the excreted peptide, and limits the pathogenicity of the strain.     

Donauturm wird Selbstversorger in Sachen Energie

AktuellSonnenenergie

Donauturm wird Selbstversorger in Sachen Energie     

Nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation and life prediction of metals: A comparative study

Fatigue damage modelling and life prediction of engineering components under variable amplitude loadings are critical for ensuring their operational reliability and structural integrity. In this paper, five typical nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation models are evaluated and compared by considering the influence of load sequence and interaction on fatigue life of P355NL1 steels. Moreover, a new nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation model is proposed to account for these two effects. Experimental datasets of pressure vessel steel P355NL1 and four other materials under two‐block loadings are used for model comparative study. Results indicate that the proposed model yields more accurate fatigue life predictions for the five materials than the other models.     

Discrete–continuous project scheduling with discounted cash flows—A tabu search approach

In this paper discrete–continuous project scheduling problems with discounted cash flows are considered. In discrete–continuous project scheduling activities require for their processing discrete and continuous resources. The processing rate of an activity depends on the amount of the continuous resource allotted to this activity at a time. A positive cash flow is associated with each activity. Two common payment models—lump-sum payment and payments at activities’ completion times—are considered. The objective is the maximization of the net present value of all cash flows of the project. Some properties of optimal schedules are discussed, and the formulation of a mathematical programming problem for an optimal continuous resource allocation is presented. Applications of a local search metaheuristic—tabu search, as well as simple search methods—multi-start iterative improvement and random sampling are described. The algorithms are compared on the basis of a computational experiment, the results are analyzed and discussed. Some conclusions as well as directions for further research are given.     

Synthesis of Novel Pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine Derivatives with 6-Fluoro-3-(4-piperidynyl)-1,2-benzisoxazole Moiety as Potential SSRI and 5-HT1A Receptor Ligands

Two series of novel 4-aryl-2H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine (6a–i) and 4-aryl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine (7a–i) derivatives were synthesized. The chemical structures of the new compounds were confirmed by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and ESI-HRMS spectrometry. The affinities of all compounds for the 5-HT_1A receptor and serotonin transporter protein (SERT) were determined by in vitro radioligand binding assays. The test compounds demonstrated very high binding affinities for the 5-HT_1A receptor of all derivatives in the series (6a–i and 7a–i) and generally low binding affinities for the SERT protein, with the exception of compounds 6a and 7g. Extended affinity tests for the receptors D₂, 5-HT_2A, 5-HT₆ and 5-HT₇ were conducted with regard to selected compounds (6a, 7g, 6d and 7i). All four compounds demonstrated very high affinities for the D₂ and 5-HT_2A receptors. Compounds 6a and 7g also had high affinities for 5-HT₇, while 6d and 7i held moderate affinities for this receptor. Compounds 6a and 7g were also tested in vivo to identify their functional activity profiles with regard to the 5-HT_1A receptor, with 6a demonstrating the activity profile of a presynaptic agonist. Metabolic stability tests were also conducted for 6a and 6d.