Highly dispersive large mode area photonic bandgap fiber

An all-silica photonic bandgap fiber composed of a low-index core surrounded by alternating high- and low-index rings allows us to achieve a large mode area (500 microm(2)) and large chromatic dispersion. Sharp resonances from the even Bragg mode to odd ring modes theoretically lead to 20,000 ps/(nm km) chromatic dispersion when large bends are applied. By nature, sharp resonances are sensitive to inhomogeneities along the fiber length. Under experimental conditions, the resonances are broadened and the dispersion coefficient is decreased to 1000 ps/(nm km). However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the largest dispersion coefficient reported using a large mode area fiber.     

DIC Challenge 2.0: Developing Images and Guidelines for Evaluating Accuracy and Resolution of 2D Analyses

Experimental Mechanics - The DIC Challenge 2.0 follows on from the work accomplished in the first Digital Image Correlation (DIC) Challenge Reu et al. (Experimental Mechanics 58(7):1067, 1). The...     

Palindromic Vectors,Symmetropy and Symmentropy as Symmetry Descriptors of Binary Data

Today, the palindromic analysis of biological sequences, based exclusively on the study of “mirror” symmetry properties, is almost unavoidable. However, other types of symmetry, such as those present in friezes, could allow us to analyze binary sequences from another point of view. New tools, such as symmetropy and symmentropy, based on new types of palindromes allow us to discriminate binarized 1/f noise sequences better than Lempel–Ziv complexity. These new palindromes with new types of symmetry also allow for better discrimination of binarized DNA sequences. A relative error of 6% of symmetropy is obtained from the HUMHBB and YEAST1 DNA sequences. A factor of 4 between the slopes obtained from the linear fits of the local symmentropies for the two DNA sequences shows the discriminative capacity of the local symmentropy. Moreover, it is highlighted that a certain number of these new palindromes of sizes greater than 30 bits are more discriminating than those of smaller sizes assimilated to those from an independent and identically distributed random variable.     

中温固体氧化物燃料电池阴极材料LaBiMn2O6的制备与性能研究

采用固相法合成了中温固体氧化物燃料电池(IT-SOFCs)阴极材料LaBiMn₂O₆,并利用X射线衍射(XRD)和电化学阻抗谱(EIS)进行表征.结果表明该材料与电解质Ce_0.7Bi_0.3O_1.85(CBO)在1 000 ℃烧结12 h不发生反应.交流阻抗和直流极化测试结果发现,阴极极化电阻随测试温度的增加而逐渐减小,700 ℃空气中的极化电阻为0.71 Ω·cm²;氧分压测试结果显示,在600~700 ℃范围内,电极反应的速率控制步骤为电极上发生的电荷转移反应.电极过电位为85 mV时,700 ℃的阴极电流密度达到 216 mA·cm^-2 ,表明LaBiMn₂O₆是一种潜在的中温固体氧化物燃料电池(IT-SOFCs)阴极材料.     

钴掺杂Sr1.5La0.5MnO4的合成及高温电化学性能研究

采用EDTA-柠檬酸法合成了中温固体氧化物燃料电池阴极材料Sr_1.5La_0.5Mn_1-xCo_xO₄（SLMCO_x）,并利用粉末X射线衍射（XRD）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）以及电化学交流阻抗谱（EIS）进行表征。结果表明,该材料与Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_1.95（CGO）在1 200℃烧结12 h不发生化学反应。随着Co掺入量的增加,氧化物中Mn³⁺和Co²⁺含量增多,晶格氧含量降低,晶格畸变率增大。交流阻抗谱（EIS）测试结果显示,钴的掺杂明显降低电极的极化电阻,其中Sr_1.5La_0.5Mn_0.7Co_0.3O₄阴极在700℃空气中的极化电阻为0.62 Ω·cm²,明显小于Sr_1.5La_0.5MnO₄阴极在750℃的极化电阻（1.5 Ω·cm²）,表明钴掺杂的Sr_1.5La_0.5Mn_1-xCo_xO₄是一种潜在的IT-SOFC阴极材料。     

Snake Venom Components: Tools and Cures to Target Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are considered as a major cause of death worldwide. Therefore, identifying and developing therapeutic strategies to treat and reduce the prevalence of CVDs is a major medical challenge. Several drugs used for the treatment of CVDs, such as captopril, emerged from natural products, namely snake venoms. These venoms are complex mixtures of bioactive molecules, which, among other physiological networks, target the cardiovascular system, leading to them being considered in the development and design of new drugs. In this review, we describe some snake venom molecules targeting the cardiovascular system such as phospholipase A2 (PLA2), natriuretic peptides (NPs), bradykinin-potentiating peptides (BPPs), cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISPs), disintegrins, fibrinolytic enzymes, and three-finger toxins (3FTXs). In addition, their molecular targets, and mechanisms of action—vasorelaxation, inhibition of platelet aggregation, cardioprotective activities—are discussed. The dissection of their biological effects at the molecular scale give insights for the development of future snake venom-derived drugs.     

Evaluation of Vetiver Volatile Compound Production under Aeroponic-Grown Conditions for the Perfume Industry

Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty) is a major tropical perfume crop. Access to its essential oil (EO)-filled roots is nevertheless cumbersome and land-damaging. This study, therefore, evaluated the potential of vetiver cultivation under soilless high-pressure aeroponics (HPA) for volatile organic compound (VOC) production. The VOC accumulation in the roots was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, and the composition of these VOCs was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) after sampling by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). The HPA-grown plants were compared to plants that had been grown in potting soil and under axenic conditions. The HPA-grown plants were stunted, demonstrating less root biomass than the plants that had been grown in potting soil. The roots were slender, thinner, more tapered, and lacked the typical vetiver fragrance. HPA cultivation massively impaired the accumulation of the less-volatile hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpenes that normally form most of the VOCs. The axenic, tissue-cultured plants followed a similar and more exacerbated trend. Ultrastructural analyses revealed that the HPA conditions altered root ontogeny, whereby the roots contained fewer EO-accumulating cells and hosted fewer and more immature intracellular EO droplets. These preliminary results allowed to conclude that HPA-cultivated vetiver suffers from altered development and root ontology disorders that prevent EO accumulation.     

Model-independent constraints on spin observables

We discuss model-independent constraints on spin observables in exclusive and inclusive reactions, with special attention to the case of photoproduction.