Terahertz graphene optics

The magnitude of the optical sheet conductance of single-layer graphene is universal, and equal to e ²/4? (where 2??? = h (the Planck constant)). As the optical frequency decreases, the conductivity decreases. However, at some frequency in the THz range, the conductivity increases again, eventually reaching the DC value, where the magnitude of the DC sheet conductance generally displays a sample- and doping-dependent value between ??e ²/h and 100 e ²/h. Thus, the THz range is predicted to be a non-trivial region of the spectrum for electron transport in graphene, and may have interesting technological applications. In this paper, we present the first frequency domain measurements of the absolute value of multilayer graphene (MLG) and single-layer graphene (SLG) sheet conductivity and transparency from DC to 1 THz, and establish a firm foundation for future THz applications of graphene.      

Contribution of Particle-Induced Lysosomal Membrane Hyperpolarization to Lysosomal Membrane Permeabilization

Lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) has been proposed to precede nanoparticle-induced macrophage injury and NLRP3 inflammasome activation; however, the underlying mechanism(s) of LMP is unknown. We propose that nanoparticle-induced lysosomal hyperpolarization triggers LMP. In this study, a rapid non-invasive method was used to measure changes in lysosomal membrane potential of murine alveolar macrophages (AM) in response to a series of nanoparticles (ZnO, TiO₂, and CeO₂). Crystalline SiO₂ (micron-sized) was used as a positive control. Changes in cytosolic potassium were measured using Asante potassium green 2. The results demonstrated that ZnO or SiO₂ hyperpolarized the lysosomal membrane and decreased cytosolic potassium, suggesting increased lysosome permeability to potassium. Time-course experiments revealed that lysosomal hyperpolarization was an early event leading to LMP, NLRP3 activation, and cell death. In contrast, TiO₂- or valinomycin-treated AM did not cause LMP unless high doses led to lysosomal hyperpolarization. Neither lysosomal hyperpolarization nor LMP was observed in CeO₂-treated AM. These results suggested that a threshold of lysosomal membrane potential must be exceeded to cause LMP. Furthermore, inhibition of lysosomal hyperpolarization with Bafilomycin A1 blocked LMP and NLRP3 activation, suggesting a causal relation between lysosomal hyperpolarization and LMP.     

News media attention in Climate Action: latent topics and open access

Scientometrics - In this study we investigated whether open access could assist the broader dissemination of scientific research in Climate Action (Sustainable Development Goal 13) via news...     

Characterization of Erbium,Indium, and Erbium–Indium co-doped 8%mol Yttria-stabilized Zirconia

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In this work, the cubic structure of Yttria-stabilized Zirconia (8YSZ) and Indium and Erbium co-doped 8YSZ nanopowders have been prepared by...     

Immunoreactivity of PMP-22, P0, and other 19 to 28 kDa glycoproteins in peripheral nerve myelin of mammals and fish with HNK1 and related antibodies

Mammalian peripheral nervous system (PNS) myelin contains several glycoproteins with molecular weights of 19 to 28 kDa, including the major 28 kDa P0 glycoprotein and a recently cloned protein called PMP-22. Some glycoproteins in this M(r) range in humans, cats and some other mammals react with HNK1, a mouse monoclonal antibody that identifies a carbohydrate epitope shared between the immune system and a number of adhesion proteins in the nervous system. A variety of antibodies to P0, PMP-22, and the carbohydrate determinants reacting with HNK1 were used to characterize immunochemically these 19 to 28 kDa glycoproteins of cat PNS myelin. The HNK1-reactive components include P0 and two slightly smaller 23 to 26 kDa proteins that are immunologically related to P0. However, HNK1 reacts most strongly with a lower molecular weight glycoprotein that does not react with the antibodies to P0 and was identified as PMP-22. Since the carbohydrate structure reacting with HNK1 is generally expressed on adhesion molecules, this result suggests that PMP-22 may function in cell-cell or membrane-membrane interactions. Furthermore, the related human anti-MAG monoclonal IgM antibodies from patients with neuropathy also react strongly with PMP-22, suggesting that it may be a target antigen in the pathogenesis of this disease. Purified PNS and CNS myelin from bony fish (toadfish and trout) were also shown to contain major glycoproteins, in the same 19 to 28 kDa M(r) range, that react very strongly with HNK1. It is shown that fish myelin has major proteins of this size that are immunologically and structurally related to mammalian P0, and it is demonstrated here that one of the strongly HNK1-positive proteins reacted well with an antiserum raised to bovine P0. The presence of high levels of the adhesion-related HNK1 epitope on these major myelin proteins of fish suggests that this carbohydrate structure may have played a role in the molecular evolution of myelin.     

On-line capillary electrophoresis/microelectrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry using an ion trap storage/time-of-flight mass spectrometer with SWIFT technology.

The development of a system capable of the speed required for on-line capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS/MS) of tryptic digests is described. The ion trap storage/reflectron time-of-flight (IT/reTOF) mass spectrometer is used as a nonscanning detector for rapid CE separation, where the peptides are ionized on-line using electrospray ionization (ESI). The ESI produced ions are stored in the ion trap and dc pulse injected into the reTOF-MS at a rate sufficient to maintain the separation achieved by CE. Using methodology generated by software and hardware developed in our lab, we can produce SWIFT (Stored Waveform Inverse Fourier Transform) ion isolation and TICKLE activation/fragmentation voltage waveforms to generate MS/MS at a rate as high as 10 Hz so that the MS/MS spectra can be optimized on even a 1-2 s eluting peak. In CE separations performed on tryptic digests of dogfish myelin basic protein (MBP) where eluting peaks 4-8 s wide are observed, it is demonstrated that an acquisition rate of 4 Hz provides > 20 spectra/peak and is more than sufficient to provide optimized MS/MS spectra of each of the eluting peaks in the electropherogram. The detailed structural analysis of dogfish MBP including several posttranslational modifications using CE-MS and CE-MS/MS is demonstrated using this method with < 10 fmol of material consumed.     

Optimal design of skeletal structures using ant colony optimization

In this article, the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is employed for optimal design of skeletal structures. The advantage of using ACO lies in the fact that the discrete spaces can be optimized in a simple manner. The results of the present method are compared to those of the other optimization algorithms for some classic examples from the literature. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improvement of numerical modeling in the solution of static and transient dynamic problems using finite element method based on spherical Hankel shape functions

In this paper, finite element method is reformulated using new shape functions to approximate the state variables (ie, displacement field and its derivatives) and inhomogeneous term (ie, inertia term) of Navier's differential equation. These shape functions and corresponding elements are called spherical Hankel hereafter. It is possible for these elements to satisfy the polynomial and the first and second kind of Bessel function fields simultaneously, while the classic Lagrange elements can only satisfy polynomial ones. These shape functions are so robust that with least degrees of freedom, much better results can be achieved in comparison with classic Lagrange ones. It is interesting that no Runge phenomenon exists in the interpolation of proposed shape functions when going to higher degrees of freedom, while it may occur in classic Lagrange ones. Moreover, the spherical Hankel shape functions have a significant robustness in the approximation of folded surfaces. Five numerical examples related to the usage of suggested shape functions in finite element method in solving problems are studied, and their results are compared with those obtained from classic Lagrange shape functions and analytical solutions (if available) to show the efficiency and accuracy of the present method.     

Piecewise constant level set method for structural topology optimization with MBO type of projection

In this paper, we combine a Piecewise Constant Level Set (PCLS) method with a MBO scheme to solve a structural shape and topology optimization problem. The geometrical boundary of structure is represented implicitly by the discontinuities of PCLS functions. Compared with the classical level set method (LSM) for solving Hamilton–Jacobi partial differential equation (H-J PDE) we don’t need to solve H-J PDE, thus it is free of the CFL condition and the reinitialization scheme. For solving optimization problem under some constraints, Additive Operator Splitting (AOS) and Multiplicative Operator Splitting (MOS) schemes will be used. To increase the convergency speed and the efficiency of PCLS method we combine this approach with MBO scheme. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed by solving some examples of 2D structural topology optimization problems.