Mitochondrial BNIP3 upregulation precedes endonuclease G translocation in hippocampal neuronal death following oxygen-glucose deprivation

Background  

Caspase-independent apoptotic pathways are suggested as a mechanism for the delayed neuronal death following ischemic insult. However, the underlying signalling mechanisms are largely unknown. Recent studies imply the involvement of several mitochondrial proteins, including endonuclease G (EndoG) and Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19 kDa-interacting protein (BNIP3), in the pathway of non-neuronal cells.     

A stable BaCeO3-based proton conductor for solid oxide fuel cells

In order to improve the chemical stability of BaCeO₃, Ti⁴⁺ was introduced into B site of BaCeO₃ to modify the chemical stability. XRD test demonstrates that \textBaC\texte_0.6\textT\texti_0.2\textY_0.2\textO_{3 - d} {\text{BaC}}{{\text{e}}_{0.6}}{\text{T}}{{\text{i}}_{0.2}}{{\text{Y}}_{0.2}}{{\text{O}}_{3 - \delta }} (BCTY) keeps its original pervoskite-type structure at a high doping level of 20%. After exposure in 94% N₂ + 3% CO₂ + 3% H₂O at 700 °C for 10 h, BCTY exhibited adequate chemical stability while decomposition was found in \textBaC\texte_0.8\textY_0.2\textO_{3 - d} {\text{BaC}}{{\text{e}}_{0.8}}{{\text{Y}}_{0.2}}{{\text{O}}_{3 - \delta }} (BCY). Accordingly, the conductivity of BCTY reaches 0.0072 S/cm at 700 °C in humidified hydrogen which is a little lower than BCY (0.0085). Besides, BCTY displayed better sintering characteristics than BCY at high temperatures and the relative density reaches 96.4% and 94.8%, respectively. The two samples also exhibited similar thermal expansion behavior from 30 to 1,000 °C. A fuel cell with BCTY as electrolyte exhibited 244 mW/cm² at 700 °C and the stable short-term performance further proved the stability of BCTY.     

非晶/结晶共混对聚合物光伏电池性能的影响

以局域规整聚（3-己基噻吩） （P3HT）制备了TiO₂/聚合物型双层结构光伏电池.利用稳态电流-电压测试和动态强度调制光电压谱,结合差热分析、吸收光谱和荧光光谱, 研究了非晶支化聚亚乙基亚胺（BPEI）作为P3HT膜层的添加成分对TiO₂/P3HT双层电池性能的影响.由于P3HT链的高结晶性,使得TiO₂/P3HT界面接触不好,导致电池性能差.当在P3HT中共混重量比W_BPEI/P3HT=1％—5％的BPEI时,电池性能得到显著改善;尤其是当W_BPEI/P3HT= 1％时,电池表现出近0.8V的开路电压和20μA/cm²的短路电流.结果表明BPEI对电池性能的影响不是源于P3HT-BPEI共混体系光学性能的变化,而主要是由于其改变了TiO₂/P3HT界面接触性能.BPEI对TiO₂/P3HT界面接触有两个相互竞争的影响,这取决于P3HT-BPEI共混体系的组成.一方面,通过降低P3HT的结晶度和增强与TiO₂表面的相互作用,改善P3HT链在TiO₂ 表面的附着;另一方面,当BPEI含量过高时,BPEI在TiO₂表面的附着量将增加,反而会阻碍P3HT与TiO₂表面的接触.良好的TiO₂/P3HT界面接触有利于提高激子的界面分离效率、光生电子的寿命和电池效率.本文结果有望为聚合物光伏电池性能的改善提供新的认识和方法. 关键词： 聚（3-己基噻吩） 二氧化钛 共轭聚合物 光伏电池     

Applications of He neutron spin filters at the NCNR

At the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), we have applied ³He neutron spin filters (NSFs) to the instruments where ³He NSFs are advantageous, such as thermal triple-axis spectrometry, small-angle neutron scattering, and diffuse reflectometry. We present the status of our development and application of this method, including polarized gas production by spin-exchange optical pumping, magnetostatic cavities for storage of the polarized gas on the beam line, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based, on-line monitoring and reversal of the ³He polarization. We present the status of developing user-friendly interfaces incorporated into the instrument software to handle these ³He neutron spin filters while taking data and performing data analysis. Finally we discuss the status of development of a polarization capability on the multi-axis crystal spectrometer, which requires polarization analysis over a 220° angular range.     

Wave properties of an annular periodic multilayer structure containing the single-negative materials

The optical properties of an annular periodic multilayer structure containing two kinds of single-negative materials are theoretically investigated based on the transfer matrix method of the cylindrical waves. At the azimuthal mode number m1 and near the magnetic plasma frequency and the electronic plasma frequency for the TE wave and TM wave, respectively, we find that there is an additional high-reflectance band and some reflection dips exist when the plasma frequency is located in the photonic band gap. These two special features arising from the higher order azimuthal mode of the cylindrical waves are not seen in the planar one-dimensional Bragg reflector consisting of the single-negative materials. Such filtering responses provide a feasible way of designing a narrowband resonator without physically introducing any defect layer in the structure.     

Structural and physical properties of ZnO:Al films grown on glass by direct current magnetron sputtering with the oblique target

ZnO:Al films were deposited on glass substrates at 300 K and 673 K by direct current magnetron sputtering with the oblique target. The Ar pressure was adjusted to 0.4 Pa and 1.2 Pa, respectively. All the films have a wurtzite structure and grow with a c-axis orientation in the film growth direction. The films grow mainly with columnar grains perpendicular to the substrate and some granular grains also exist in the films. The film deposited at 673 K and 0.4 Pa has the largest grains whereas that prepared at 300 K and 0.4 Pa consists of the smallest grains and is porous. The films exhibit an n-type semiconducting behavior at room temperature. The ZnO:Al film deposited at 673 K and 0.4 Pa has the lowest resistivity (3.40 × 10⁻³ Ω cm), the highest free electron concentration (4.63 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³) and a moderate Hall mobility (4.0 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹). The film deposited at 300 K and 0.4 Pa has the highest resistivity and the lowest free electron concentration and Hall mobility. A temperature dependence of the resistivity reveals that the carrier transport mechanism is Mott’s variable range hopping in the temperature region below 100 K and thermally activated band conduction above 215 K. The activation energy for the film deposited at 300 K and 0.4 Pa is 41 meV and that for the other films is about 35 meV. All the films have an average optical transmittance of over 85% in the visible wavelength range. The absorption edge of the film deposited at 300 K and 0.4 Pa shifts to the longer wavelength (redshift) relative to the films prepared under the other conditions.     

寻找解题的“切入点”

在解难度稍大、综合性稍强的物理综合题时,常听到有些同学抱怨"一头雾水"、"无从下手",甚至在高考大题上一片空白,留下终生遗憾,究其原因,是未找准解题的"切入点",俗话讲"良好的开端,是成功的一半"、"入门即不难",可见解题时选准切人点是解题的基础和关键,切人的策略可有以下几个方面.     

Thermodynamics and weak cosmic censorship conjecture of BTZ black holes in extended phase space

As a charged fermion drops into a BTZ black hole, the laws of thermodynamics and the weak cosmic censorship conjecture are investigated in both the normal and extended phase space, where the cosmological parameter and renormalization length are regarded as extensive quantities. In the normal phase space, the first and second law of thermodynamics, and the weak cosmic censorship are found to be valid. In the extended phase space, although the first law and weak cosmic censorship conjecture remain valid, the second law is dependent on the variation of the renormalization energy d K. Moreover, in the extended phase space, the configurations of extremal and near-extremal black holes are not changed, as they are stable, while in the normal phase space, the extremal and near-extremal black holes evolve into non-extremal black holes.     

Spin thermoelectricity in dualhydrogenated zigzag silicene nanoribbons with surface adsorptions

The buckled structure of silicene provides a feasible pathway to influence its electric and magnetic properties via surface adsorptions. Here, we investigate the magnetic and spin thermoelectric transport properties of dual-hydrogenated zigzag silicene nanoribbons (ZSiNRs) without/with the hydrogen adsorption. The band gaps for two spin channels in ZSiNRs under the hydrogen adsorption are shifted near the Fermi level, leading to the appearance of spin Seebeck effect. Using a temperature difference, one can derive the carriers with the different spin index to flow in the opposite direction. Moreover, a large rectification ratio close to 10⁵ at room temperature is achieved for the spin current, and the charge current exhibits a remarkable negative differential thermoelectric resistance (NDTR) behavior. The results presented here are fascinating potential applications in the fields of silicon-based spin caloritronic devices.