Comparative study on transport properties of N-, P-, and As-doped SiC nanowires: Calculated based on first principles

According to the one-dimensional quantum state distribution, carrier scattering, and fixed range hopping model, the structural stability and electron transport properties of N-, P-, and As-doped SiC nanowires(N-SiCNWs, P-SiCNWs, and As-SiCNWs) are simulated by using the first principles calculations. The results show that the lattice structure of NSiCNWs is the most stable in the lattice structures of the above three kinds of doped SiCNWs. At room temperature,for unpassivated SiCNWs, the doping effect of P and As are better than that of N. After passivation, the conductivities of all doped SiCNWs increase by approximately two orders of magnitude. The N-SiCNW has the lowest conductivity. In addition, the N-, P-, As-doped SiCNWs before and after passivation have the same conductivity–temperature characteristics,that is, above room temperature, the conductivity values of the doped SiCNWs all increase with temperature increasing.These results contribute to the electronic application of nanodevices.     

Simultaneous quantification of leukotrienes and hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids in cell culture medium using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Leukotrienes (LTs) and hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs) are important bioactive lipid mediators that participate in various pathophysiological processes. To advance understanding of the mechanisms that regulate these mediators in physiological and pathological processes, an analytical method using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous quantification of LTB₄, LTC₄, LTD₄, LTE₄, 5‐HETE_, 8‐HETE, 12‐HETE and 15‐HETE in cell culture media was developed. A Supel?‐Select HLB solid‐phase extraction cartridge was used for sample preparation. The compounds were separated on a C₁₈ column using gradient elution with acetonitrile–water–formic acid (20:80:0.1, v/v/v) and acetonitrile–formic acid (100:0.1, v/v). The calibration curves of LTB₄, LTD₄, LTE₄ and HETEs were linear in the range of 0.025–10 ng/mL, and the calibration curve of LTC₄ was linear in the range of 0.25–10 ng/mL. Validation assessment showed that the method was highly reliable with good accuracy and precision. The stability of LTs and HETEs was also investigated. Using the developed method, we measured LTs and HETEs in the culture supernatant of the human mast cell line HMC‐1. The present method could facilitate investigations of the mechanisms that regulate the production, release and signaling of LTs and HETEs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A model for crack formation during active solid pyrolysis of a char-forming solid: crack patterns; surface area generation; volatile mass efflux

A model is developed for the formation and propagation of cracks in a material sample that is heated at its top surface, pyrolyses, and then thermally degrades to form char. In this work the sample is heated uniformly over its entire top surface by a hypothetical flame (a heat source). The pyrolysis mechanism is described by a one-step overall reaction that is dependent nonlinearly on the temperature (Arrhenius form). Stresses develop in response to the thermal degradation of the material by means of a shrinkage strain caused by local mass loss during pyrolysis. When the principal stress exceeds a prescribed threshold value, the material forms a local crack. Cracks are found to generally originate at the surface in response to heating, but occasionally they form in the bulk, away from ever-changing material boundaries. The resulting cracks evolve and form patterns whose characteristics are described. Quantities examined in detail are: the crack spacing in the pyrolysis zone; the crack length evolution; the formation and nature of crack loops which are defined as individual cracks that have joined to form loops that are disconnected from the remaining material; the formation of enhanced pyrolysis area; and the impact of all of the former quantities on mass flux. It is determined that the mass flux from the sample can be greatly enhanced over its nominal (non-cracking) counterpart. The mass efflux profile qualitatively resembles those observed in Cone Calorimeter tests.     

Monte Carlo simulation of electric conductivity for pure and doping fullerene (C60)

In this paper, we have used Monte Carlo (MC) method to simulate and study the temperature and doping effects on the electric conductivity of fullerene (C60). The results show that the band gap has reduced by the doping and the charge carrier transport is facilitated from valence band to conduction band by the temperature where is touched a 300 K. In this case, the conductivity reached a value of $4\times {10}^{-7}\text{S}{\text{cm}}^{-1}$. The electric conductivity of C60 can increase by the triphenylmethane dye crystal violet (CV) alkali metal to reach $4\times {10}^{-3}\text{S}{\text{cm}}^{-1}$ at 303 K. Our results of MC simulation have a good agreement with those extracted from literature [10], [33].     

A novel LC–MS/MS method for the determination of ziritaxestat in rat plasma and its pharmacokinetic study

Ziritaxestat is a first-in-class autotoxin inhibitor. The purpose of this study was to develop a liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS/MS) method for the determination of ziritaxestat in rat plasma. The plasma sample was deproteinated using acetonitrile and then separated on an Acquity BEH C₁₈ column with water containing 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile as mobile phase, which was delivered at 0.4 ml/min. Ziritaxestat and the internal standard (crizotinib) were quantitatively monitored with precursor-to-product transitions of m/z 589.3 > 262.2 and m/z 450.1 > 260.2, respectively. The total running time was 2.5 min. The method showed excellent linearity over the concentration range 0.5–2000 ng/ml, with correlation coefficient >0.9987. The extraction recovery was >82.09% and the matrix effect was not significant. Inter- and intra-day precisions (RSD) were <11.20% and accuracies were in the range of −8.50–7.45%. Ziritaxestat was demonstrated to be stable in rat plasma under the tested conditions. The validated LC–MS/MS method was successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetic profiles of ziritaxestat in rat plasma after intravenous and oral administration. Pharmacokinetic results demonstrated that ziritaxestat displayed a short half-life (~3 h) and low bioavailability (20.52%).     

Metabolic Profiling of Amino Acids by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC–MS) to Characterize the Significance of Glutamine in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered to be aggressive based on its low overall survival and disease-free rates. Currently, there is no molecular-targeted therapy. The identification of a suitable biomarker is still a research focus for TNBC at the present time. Amino acid metabolism fulfills multiple important physiological roles in humans. Their metabolic abnormalities have been reported in numerous cancer studies and amino acid pathways may also be chemotherapeutic targets. This study reports the profiling analysis of amino acids in TNBC and non-TNBC cell lines for detecting biomarkers based on the strategy of N-phosphorylation labeling with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Glutamine (Gln) was found to be significantly down-regulated in TNBC cells because it was largely absorbed and consumed in the TNBC cell lines. These results indicate faster proliferation of TNBC and higher consumption of glutamine to meet the material and energy demand, suggesting its potential role in TNBC progression. Hence, glutamine may be regarded as a biomarker and Gln-targeted approaches may become a new therapeutic strategies for TNBC.     

A semi-analytical numerical method for time-dependent radiative transfer problems in slab geometry with coherent isotropic scattering

We describe a semi-analytical numerical method for coherent isotropic scattering time-dependent radiative transfer problems in slab geometry. This numerical method is based on a combination of two classes of numerical methods: the spectral methods and the Laplace transform (LTS_N) methods applied to the radiative transfer equation in the discrete ordinates (S_N) formulation. The basic idea is to use the essence of the spectral methods and expand the intensity of radiation in a truncated series of Laguerre polynomials in the time variable and then solve recursively the resulting set of “time-independent” S_N problems by using the LTS_N method. We show some numerical experiments for a typical model problem.     

Theory of high temperature superconductivity in YBa2Cu3O7_δ

A theory of high temperature superconductivity in YBa₂Cu₃O₇__δ compound has been developed on the basis of the momentum pairing of electrons through the relativistic Darwin interaction. The transport behaviour of electrons is explained in terms of a mechanism of correlated electron transfer arising from the electron-phonon coupling. A model Hamiltonian has been developed to describe the superconducting properties of the system. This gives an energy gap which is higher than the BCS value. Attempts have been made to explain the absence of isotope effect, the linear dependence of specific heat, the presence of larger temperature-independent paramagnetism in the normal phase and the softening of some of the optic phonon modes observed in this system.     

Mass transport in metals under intensive impulse reactions

An unusually high mobility of atoms under intensive impulse reactions is explained by the behavior of point defects at the shock wave front. It is shown that either a shock wave front or moving dislocations can capture the interstitials, or they can be thermally activated in the direction of the shock wave propagation.