Elastomeric nanoparticle composites covalently bound to Al2O3/GaAs surfaces

This article reports the modification of Al2O3/GaAs surfaces with multifunctional soft materials. Siloxane elastomers were covalently bound to dopamine-modified Al2O3/GaAs semiconductor surfaces using MPt (M = Fe, Ni) nanoparticles. The sizes of the monodisperse FePt and NiPt nanoparticles were less than 5 nm. The surfaces of the nanoparticles as well as the Al2O3/GaAs substrates were modified with allyl-functionalized dopamine that utilized a dihydroxy group as a strong ligand. The immobilization of the elastomers was performed via a hydrosilation reaction of the allyl-functionalized dopamines with the siloxane backbones. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments confirmed the covalent bonding of the siloxane elastomers to the oxide layer on the semiconductor surface. Fourier transform-infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (FT-IRRAS) measurements revealed that the allyl functional groups are bonded to the siloxane backbones. The FT-IRRAS data also showed that the density of the allyl groups on the surface was lower than that of the siloxane backbones. The mechanical properties of the surface-bound nanocomposites were tested using nanoindentation experiments. The nanoindentation data showed that the soft matrix composed of the elastomeric coating on the surfaces behaves differently from the inner, hard Al2O3/GaAs substrate.     

Transport of charged particles: Entropy production and Maximum Dissipation Principle

In order to describe the dynamics of crowded ions (charged particles), we use an energetic variational approach to derive a modified Poisson–Nernst–Planck (PNP) system which includes an extra dissipation due to the effective velocity differences between ion species. Such a system has more complicated nonlinearities than the original PNP system but with the same equilibrium states. Using Galerkin's method and Schauder's fixed-point theorem, we develop a local existence theorem of classical solutions for the modified PNP system. Different dynamics (but same equilibrium states) between the original and modified PNP systems can be represented by numerical simulations using finite element method techniques.     

Composite‐Assisted Phase‐Matching: Efficient Wavelength Conversion in Nonlinear Optical Composite Materials Containing Metal Nanoparticles

A novel phase‐matching scheme which is based on the dispersion compensation in the nonlinear optical composite materials containing metal nanoparticles is proposed. Anomalous dispersion originating from the plasmon resonance in metal nanoparticles compensates the dispersion of the host nonlinear material, leading to the perfect phase‐matching and high efficiency of nonlinear optical wavelength conversion. The effectiveness of this approach is theoretically demonstrated, taking third‐order nonlinear processes such as the direct third‐harmonic generation and four‐wave mixing in ZnO composites containing silica‐core–silver‐shell nanoparticles as examples. The results show that with the proposed phase‐matching scheme, unprecedentedly high conversion efficiency can be obtained compared with preceding results in third‐order nonlinear optical solid‐state materials.     

Protected ester,nitrile, carbinol and carbinyl amine cyclopropanone hydrates

Methyl diazoacetate reacted with the ketene acetal I in the presence of dirhodium tetraacetate yielding the metastable cyclopropanone ketal ester II, which was converted to the primary and tertiary cyclopropyl carbinols III and IV by treatment with lithium aluminum hydride and methyl lithium, respectively. Diazoacetonitrile yielded a stable crystalline cyclopropanone ketal nitrile X following reaction with the ketene acetal I.     

Proton magnetic resonance studies of the phase structure of bulk-crystallized linear polyethylene

The broad-line proton NMR spectra of melt-crystallized samples of polyethylene covering a very wide range in molecular weight have been analyzed in terms of contributions from three components: (1) a crystalline region with crystals of orthorhombic form; (2) a noncrystalline region with liquid-like character which produces a Lorentzian contribution to the spectrum; and (3) an intermediate region in which the rotation of methylene groups about C—C bonds is partly hindered. The relative mass fractions as well as the character of these components depend greatly on the molecular weight. Samples of low molecular weight (e.g., ?30,000) are predominantly composed of lamellar crystalline regions with a minor amount of interfacial regions and no liquid-like interzonal regions. As the molecular weight increases beyond 45,000, an interzonal region with a liquid-like character associated with a higher molecular mobility is produced. Above a molecular weight of 100,000, this liquid-like character becomes pronounced with an increase in molecular mobility in the interfacial region.     

Hypoxia-inducible factor-2α mediates senescence-associated intrinsic mechanisms of age-related bone loss

Aging is associated with cellular senescence followed by bone loss leading to bone fragility in humans. However, the regulators associated with cellular senescence in aged bones need to be identified. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)−2α regulates bone remodeling via the differentiation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Here, we report that HIF-2α expression was highly upregulated in aged bones. HIF-2α depletion in male mice reversed age-induced bone loss, as evidenced by an increase in the number of osteoblasts and a decrease in the number of osteoclasts. In an in vitro model of doxorubicin-mediated senescence, the expression of Hif-2α and p21, a senescence marker gene, was enhanced, and osteoblastic differentiation of primary mouse calvarial preosteoblast cells was inhibited. Inhibition of senescence-induced upregulation of HIF-2α expression during matrix maturation, but not during the proliferation stage of osteoblast differentiation, reversed the age-related decrease in Runx2 and Ocn expression. However, HIF-2α knockdown did not affect p21 expression or senescence progression, indicating that HIF-2α expression upregulation in senescent osteoblasts may be a result of aging rather than a cause of cellular senescence. Osteoclasts are known to induce a senescent phenotype during in vitro osteoclastogenesis. Consistent with increased HIF-2α expression, the expression of p16 and p21 was upregulated during osteoclastogenesis of bone marrow macrophages. ChIP following overexpression or knockdown of HIF-2α using adenovirus revealed that p16 and p21 are direct targets of HIF-2α in osteoclasts. Osteoblast-specific (Hif-2α^fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre) or osteoclast-specific (Hif-2α^fl/fl;Ctsk-Cre) conditional knockout of HIF-2α in male mice reversed age-related bone loss. Collectively, our results suggest that HIF-2α acts as a senescence-related intrinsic factor in age-related dysfunction of bone homeostasis.Subject terms: Cell biology, Diseases     

Exercise type and muscle fiber specific induction of caveolin-1 expression for insulin sensitivity of skeletal muscle

It is well known that exercise can have beneficial effects on insulin resistance by activation of glucose transporter. Following up our previous report that caveolin-1 plays an important role in glucose uptake in L6 skeletal muscle cells, we examined whether exercise alters the expression of caveolin-1, and whether exercise-caused changes are muscle fiber and exercise type specific. Fifty week-old Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were trained to climb a ladder and treadmill for 8 weeks and their soleus muscles (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus muscles (EDL) were removed after the last bout of exercise and compared with those from non-exercised animals. We found that the expression of insulin related proteins and caveolins did not change in SOL muscles after exercise. However, in EDL muscles, the expression of insulin receptor beta (IR beta) and glucose transporter-4 (GLUT-4) as well as phosphorylation of AKT and AMPK increased with resistance exercise but not with aerobic exercise. Also, caveolin-1 and caveolin-3 increased along with insulin related proteins only in EDL muscles by resistance exercise. These results suggest that upregulation of caveolin-1 in the skeletal muscle is fiber specific and exercise type specific, implicating the requirement of the specific mode of exercise to improve insulin sensitivity.     

Single-pulse coherent diffraction imaging using soft x-ray laser

We report a coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) using a single 8 ps soft x-ray laser pulse at a wavelength of 13.9 nm. The soft x-ray pulse was generated by a laboratory-scale intense pumping laser providing coherent x-ray pulses up to the level of 10(11) photons/pulse. A spatial resolution below 194 nm was achieved with a single pulse, and it was shown that a resolution below 55 nm is feasible with improved detector capability. The single-pulse CDI might provide a way to investigate dynamics of nanoscale molecules or particles.