Arpin Regulates Migration Persistence by Interacting with Both Tankyrases and the Arp2/3 Complex

During cell migration, protrusion of the leading edge is driven by the polymerization of Arp2/3-dependent branched actin networks. Migration persistence is negatively regulated by the Arp2/3 inhibitory protein Arpin. To better understand Arpin regulation in the cell, we looked for its interacting partners and identified both Tankyrase 1 and 2 (TNKS) using a yeast two-hybrid screening and coimmunoprecipitation with full-length Arpin as bait. Arpin interacts with ankyrin repeats of TNKS through a C-terminal-binding site on its acidic tail, which overlaps with the Arp2/3-binding site. Arpin was found to dissolve the liquid–liquid phase separation of TNKS upon overexpression. To uncouple the interactions of Arpin with TNKS and Arp2/3, we introduced point mutations in the Arpin tail and attempted to rescue the increased migration persistence of the Arpin knockout cells using random plasmid integration or compensating knock-ins at the ARPIN locus. Arpin mutations impairing interactions with either Arp2/3 or TNKS were insufficient to fully abolish Arpin activity. Only the mutation that affected both interactions rendered Arpin completely inactive, suggesting the existence of two independent pathways, whereby Arpin controls the migration persistence.     

Looking for the LOAEL or NOAEL Concentration of Nickel-Oxide Nanoparticles in a Long-Term Inhalation Exposure of Rats

Rats were exposed to nickel oxide nano-aerosol at a concentration of 2.4 ± 0.4 µg/m³ in a “nose only” inhalation setup for 4 h at a time, 5 times a week, during an overall period of 2 weeks to 6 months. Based on the majority of the effects assessed, this kind of exposure may be considered as close to LOAEL (lowest observed adverse effect level), or even to NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level). At the same time, the experiment revealed genotoxic and allergic effects as early as in the first weeks of exposure, suggesting that these effects may have no threshold at all.     

Time-evolution of microstructure and mechanical behaviour of double annealed medium Mn steel

Cold rolled 0.1C-4.7Mn (wt-%) steel was submitted to double annealing. The holding time of second intercritical annealing at 650°C was varied between 3 min and 30?h. Tensile behavior after each treatment was measured and analysed. Microstructure characterisation was performed using field emission gun scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and saturation magnetisation method. Moreover, interrupted tensile tests were done to obtain the kinetics of austenite destabilisation during straining. An important effect of soaking time on the microstructure and associate mechanical properties was revealed and analysed. Considering thermal and mechanical stability of retained austenite, the optimum combination of phases, providing the best strength-ductility balance, was found after 2?h holding.

This paper is part of a Thematic Issue on Medium Manganese Steels.     

The informative-capacity phenomenon of drying drops.

This investigation shows fundamentally good prospects for the information phenomenon of drying drops in medical diagnostics. The advantages of this method include the high information capacity, the rapid result obtainment, the small invasivity, the possibility of use by individuals without special qualification, and the low cost of the device in mass production. These properties create hope that this technology, after widescale clinical tests and the development of a prototype device, can be useful for making a preliminary diagnosis and extracting a risk group for both screening examinations and home use.     

Using the Sol–Gel Technology for the Treatment of Barley Seeds

Silica sols obtained by acidic or alkaline hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane in an excess of water or ethanol in the presence of a number of salts and/or acids are used to treat the surface of barley seeds. The surface state and the elemental composition of the seeds are studied before and after their treatment in silica sols. The conditions of the sol–gel synthesis of silica sols, their effect on the state and chemical composition of the seed surface, and the sowing characteristics are analyzed. The plant’s resistance to phytopathogen, the causative agent of root rot is studied.     

Energy Transfer to a Stable Donor Suppresses Degradation in Organic Solar Cells

Despite many advances toward improving the stability of organic photovoltaic devices, environmental degradation under ambient conditions remains a challenging obstacle for future application. Particularly conventional systems employing fullerene derivatives are prone to oxidize under illumination, limiting their applicability. Here, the environmental stability of the small molecule donor DRCN5T together with the fullerene acceptor PC₇₀BM is reported. It is found that this system exhibits exceptional device stability, mainly due to almost constant short‐circuit current. By employing ultrafast femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, this remarkable stability is attributed to two separate mechanisms: 1) DRCN5T exhibits high intrinsic resistance toward external factors, showing no signs of deterioration. 2) The highly sensitive PC₇₀BM is stabilized against degradation by the presence of DRCN5T through ultrafast, long‐range energy transfer to the donor, rapidly quenching the fullerene excited states which are otherwise precursors for chemical oxidation. It is proposed that this photoprotective mechanism be utilized to improve the device stability of other systems, including nonfullerene acceptors and ternary blends.     

ManyLands: A Journey Across 4D Phase Space of Trajectories

Mathematical models of ordinary differential equations are used to describe and understand biological phenomena. These models are dynamical systems that often describe the time evolution of more than three variables, i.e., their dynamics take place in a multi‐dimensional space, called the phase space. Currently, mathematical domain scientists use plots of typical trajectories in the phase space to analyze the qualitative behavior of dynamical systems. These plots are called phase portraits and they perform well for 2D and 3D dynamical systems. However, for 4D, the visual exploration of trajectories becomes challenging, as simple subspace juxtaposition is not sufficient. We propose ManyLands to support mathematical domain scientists in analyzing 4D models of biological systems. By describing the subspaces as Lands, we accompany domain scientists along a continuous journey through 4D HyperLand, 3D SpaceLand, and 2D FlatLand, using seamless transitions. The Lands are also linked to 1D TimeLines. We offer an additional dissected view of trajectories that relies on small‐multiple compass‐alike pictograms for easy navigation across subspaces and trajectory segments of interest. We show three use cases of 4D dynamical systems from cell biology and biochemistry. An informal evaluation with mathematical experts confirmed that ManyLands helps them to visualize and analyze complex 4D dynamics, while facilitating mathematical experiments and simulations.     

Electron Mobility of 24 cm2 V−1 s−1 in PbSe Colloidal‐Quantum‐Dot Superlattices

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are nanoscale building blocks for bottom‐up fabrication of semiconducting solids with tailorable properties beyond the possibilities of bulk materials. Achieving ordered, macroscopic crystal‐like assemblies has been in the focus of researchers for years, since it would allow exploitation of the quantum‐confinement‐based electronic properties with tunable dimensionality. Lead‐chalcogenide CQDs show especially strong tendencies to self‐organize into 2D superlattices with micrometer‐scale order, making the array fabrication fairly simple. However, most studies concentrate on the fundamentals of the assembly process, and none have investigated the electronic properties and their dependence on the nanoscale structure induced by different ligands. Here, it is discussed how different chemical treatments on the initial superlattices affect the nanostructure, the optical, and the electronic‐transport properties. Transistors with average two‐terminal electron mobilities of 13 cm² V^?1 s^?1 and contactless mobility of 24 cm² V^?1 s^?1 are obtained for small‐area superlattice field‐effect transistors. Such mobility values are the highest reported for CQD devices wherein the quantum confinement is substantially present and are comparable to those reported for heavy sintering. The considerable mobility with the simultaneous preservation of the optical bandgap displays the vast potential of colloidal QD superlattices for optoelectronic applications.     

Visual Analysis of Defects in Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers for 4DCT Interrupted In situ Tests

Material engineers use interrupted in situ tensile testing to investigate the damage mechanisms in composite materials. For each subsequent scan, the load is incrementally increased until the specimen is completely fractured. During the interrupted in situ testing of glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRPs) defects of four types are expected to appear: matrix fracture, fiber/matrix debonding, fiber pull‐out, and fiber fracture. There is a growing demand for the detection and analysis of these defects among the material engineers. In this paper, we present a novel workflow for the detection, classification, and visual analysis of defects in GFRPs using interrupted in situ tensile tests in combination with X‐ray Computed Tomography. The workflow is based on the automatic extraction of defects and fibers. We introduce the automatic Defect Classifier assigning the most suitable type to each defect based on its geometrical features. We present a visual analysis system that integrates four visualization methods: 1) the Defect Viewer highlights defects with visually encoded type in the context of the original CT image, 2) the Defect Density Maps provide an overview of the defect distributions according to type in 2D and 3D, 3) the Final Fracture Surface estimates the material fracture's location and displays it as a 3D surface, 4) the 3D Magic Lens enables interactive exploration by combining detailed visualizations in the region of interest with overview visualizations as context. In collaboration with material engineers, we evaluate our solution and demonstrate its practical applicability.