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Here, it is demonstrated that the spectral simulation program FEFF can be adapted to include the effects of 5f total angular momentum coupling in the fluorite actinide dioxide systems ThO 2 , UO 2 , and PuO 2 . N 4,5 x-ray absorption spectra produced with this modified FEFF approach will be compared to the previous experimental results, obtaining a strong agreement between the two.
Ammonia (NH 3 ) is one of the basic chemicals in artificial fertilizers and a promising carbon-free energy storage carrier. Its industrial synthesis is typically realized via the Haber−Bosch process using traditional iron-based catalysts. Developing advanced catalysts that can reduce the N 2 activation barrier and make NH 3 synthesis more efficient is a long-term goal in the field. Most heterogeneous catalysts for N 2 -to-NH 3 conversion are multicomponent systems with singly dispersed metal clusters on supporting materials to activate N 2 and H 2 molecules. Herein, we report single-component heterogeneous catalysts based on 5 f actinide dioxide surfaces (ThO 2 and UO 2 ) with oxygen vacancies for N 2 -to-NH 3 conversion. The reaction cycle we propose is enabled by a dual-site mechanism, where N 2 and H 2 can be activated at different vacancy sites on the same surface; NH 3 is subsequently formed by H − migration on the surface via associative pathways. Oxygen vacancies recover to their initial states after the release of two molecules of NH 3 , making it possible for the catalytic cycle to continue. Our work demonstrates the catalytic activities of oxygen vacancies on 5 f actinide dioxide surfaces for N 2 activation, which may inspire the search for highly efficient, single-component catalysts that are easy to synthesize and control for NH 3 conversion.
Malignant cells are characterized by the ability to invade surrounding normal tissues. Tumor invasion is abetted by proteolytic enzymes that have been correlated with recurrent disease and metastasis. These enzymes are involved in a cascade of proteolytic interactions with other enzymes and inhibitors which allow cancer cells to dissolve surrounding extracellular matrix, thereby enabling the cells to rapidly invade adjacent tissues and migrate to metastatic sites distant from the primary tumor. Among these proteases are the plasminogen activators (PA), collagenase IV, faminase, and in some cases cathepsin D, which together mediate key steps in the invasion process of metastasis. Cells which have the selective advantage for invasion and metastasis are those capable of regulating their proteolytic activity and proliferation. Cells in the process of invasion would be probably down-regulated for proliferation, but subsequent to attachment and adhesion at a distant site, would then be in a proliferative mode, up-regulating DNA replication. Urokinase (uPA) can be present in the tissues in several molecular forms. The inactive proenzyme is a single chain protein (scuPA) that is cleaved at Lys. 158 to form the double chain, high molecular weight active form (HMW-uPA) of 54 kD. A low molecular weight form (LMW-uPA) can also be produced by cleavage of the HMW-U PA at Lys. 135 - Lys. 136 giving a 35 kD active enzyme. Recently, it has been shown that the HMW active form of urokinase, bound to the tumor cell membrane, is responsible for the local lysis of the extracellular matrix, hence the tissue invasion mechanism for metastasis (Andreasen et al, 19861. Receptor- (membrane) bound uPA is twice as efficient (catalytically) as free fluid-phase uPA. Tho unbound uPA and the LMW form is not responsible for most of the local dissolution of extracellular matrix in the immediate vicinity of the metastatic tumor cell. High levels of urokinase (greater than 3.49 ng/mg of total protein) extracted from breast tumor tissues have recently been shown, together with plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1), to be a good prognostic indicator for high risk of recurrence and shorter patient survival times. In this project, we have attempted to develop immunocytochemical methodologies for the clinical assessment of the expression of urokinase plasminogen activator, which has been implicated to be important for initial steps in tumor invasion, and to relate it to cell proliferation and DNA replication at the single-cell level.
Fe XVII X-ray emission is present in a multitude of sources, such as the corona of the Sun, Capella, and Procyon. Two of the strongest lines observed in these spectra are the resonance and intercombination lines located at 15.01 and 15.26 A, respectively. As part of the laboratory astrophysics program at the electron beam ion traps EBIT-I & EBIT-II located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory we have measured this line ratio for the case where the relative abundance of Fe XVI to Fe XVII is approx. 1. Our results show that an Fe XVI innershell satellite line coincides with the intercombination line and can significantly reduce the relative intensity, R, of the resonance to intercombination line. The fact that the apparent relative intensity of the resonance and intercombination line in Fe XVII is sensitive to the strength of an Fe XVI innershell satellite, and therefore, tho relative abundance of Fe XVI to Fe XVII, makes the line ratio a diagnostic of temperature, and explains the anomalously low ratios observed in the solar and stellar coronae.
Traditionally, qualitative program verification methodologies and program testing are studied in separate research communities. None of them alone is powerful and practical enough to provide sufficient confidence in ultra-high reliability assessment when used exclusively. Significant advances can be made by accounting not only tho formal verification and program testing. but also the impact of many other standard V&V techniques, in a unified software reliability assessment framework. The first year of this research resulted in the statistical framework that, given the assumptions on the success of the qualitative V&V and QA procedures, significantly reduces the amount of testing needed to confidently assess reliability at so-called high and ultra-high levels (10-4 or higher). The coming years shall address the methodologies to realistically estimate the impacts of various V&V techniques to system reliability and include the impact of operational risk to reliability assessment. Combine formal correctness verification, process and product metrics, and other standard qualitative software assurance methods with statistical testing with the aim of gaining higher confidence in software reliability assessment for high-assurance applications. B) Quantify the impact of these methods on software reliability. C) Demonstrate that accounting for the effectiveness of these methods reduces the number of tests needed to attain certain confidence level. D) Quantify and justify the reliability estimate for systems developed using various methods.
During the Extended Life Test of the DS1 flight spare ion thruster, the engine was subjected to sensitvity testing in order to characterize the macroscopic dependence of discharge chamber sensitivity to a +\-3% vatiation in main flow, cathode flow and beam current, and to +\5% variation in beam and accelerator voltage, was determined for the minimum- (THO), half- (TH8) and full power (TH15) throttle levels. For each power level investigared, 16 high/low operating conditions were chosen to vary the flows, beam current, and grid voltages in in a matrix that mapped out the entire parameter space. The matrix of data generated was used to determine the partial derivative or senitivity of the dependent parameters--discharge voltage, discharge current, discharge loss, double-to-single-ion current ratio, and neutralizer-keeper voltage--to the variation in the independent parameters--main flow, cathode flow, beam current, and beam voltage. The sensititivities of each dependent parameter with respect to each independent parameter were determined using a least-square fit routine. Variation in these sensitivities with thruster runtime was recorded over the duration of the ELT, to detemine if discharge performance changed with thruster wear. Several key findings have been ascertained from the sensitivity testing. Discharge operation is most sensitve to changes in cathode flow and to a lesser degree main flow. The data also confirms that for the NSTAR configuration plasma production is limited by primary electron input due to the fixed neutral population. Key sensitivities along with their change with thruster wear (operating time) will be presented. In addition double ion content measurements with an ExB probe will also be presented to illustrate beam ion production and content sensitivity to the discharge chamber operating parameteres.
Saturn as a system has two very exotic moons Titan and Enceladus. Titan, taking in energy from Saturn's magnetosphere, solar UV irradiation, and cosmic rays, can make HCN based molecules as discussed in earlier paper by Raulin and Owen. Space radiation effects at both moons, and as coupled by the Saturn magnetosphere, could cause an unexpected series of events potentially leading to prebiotic chemical evolution at Titan with HCNO from magnetospheric oxygen as the new ingredient. The "Old Faithful" model suggests that Enceladus, highly irradiated by Saturn magnetospheric electrons and thus having a source of chemical energy from radiolytic gas production, has episodic ejections of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and various hydrocarbons into Saturn's magnetosphere. The hydrocarbons do not survive transport through the plasma environment, but oxygen ions from Enceladus water molecules become the dominant ion species in the outer magnetosphere. At Titan, Cassini discovered that 1) keV oxygen ions, evidently from Enceladus, are bombarding Titan's upper atmosphere and 2) heavy positive and negative ions exist in significant abundances within Titan's upper atmosphere. Initial models of heavy ion formation in Titan's upper atmosphere invoked polymerization of aromatics such as benzenes and their radicals to make polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) , while a more recent model by Sittler et al., has raised the possibility of carbon chains forming from the polymerization of acetylene and its radicals to make fullerenes. Laboratory measurements indicate that fullerenes, which are hollow carbon shells, can trap keV oxygen ions. Clustering of the fullerenes with aerosol mixtures from PAHs and the dominant nitrogen molecules could form larger aerosols enriched in trapped oxygen. Aerosol precipitation could then convey these chemically complex structures deeper into the atmosphere and to the moon surface. Ionizing solar UV, magnetospheric electron, and galactic cosmic ray irradiation would provide further energy for processing into more complex organic forms. Further ionizing irradiation from cosmic rays deep in the atmosphere "tho lin" molecules are produced with all the molecular components present from which prebiotic organic molecules can form. This synergy of Saturn system, exogenic irradiation, and molecular processes provides a potential pathway for accumulation of prebiotic chemistry on the surface of Titan. Since fullerenes are also thought to exist in interstellar space, similar processes may also occur there to seed molecular clouds with prebiotic chemical species. We will also discuss possible future laboratory experiments that could be done to investigate fullerene formation at Titan and the trapping of oxygen in fullerenes.
Discussions on the preparations for getting THO-MLOF-1 designed, built, assembled, and irradiated.
Chirality transfer from organic chiral molecules to lead halides is theorized as the origin of the strong Rashba-Dresselhaus effect causing large circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) in metal halide perovskites (MHPs). In this report a concrete empirical evidence is provided that such strong CD and CPL can occur even in nonchiral 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites (RPPs) (BA) 2 (MA) n-1 Pb n I 3n+1 (where MA = CH 3 NH 3 and BA = CH 3 (CH 2 ) 3 NH 3 ). The CD and CPL responses occurring at the excitonic transition of the MHPs are strongest (≈100 mdeg and 4.8%, respectively) when a single lead halide octahedral [PbI 6 ] 4- layer is repeatedly stacked between two nonchiral molecules BA + (n = 1). However, they are rapidly quenched as n increases. It is hypothesized that strong Rashba-Dresselhaus splitting in the 2D RPPs originates the strong CD and CPL signatures. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the large interlayer distortions in the inorganic layers at the organic/inorganic interface give rise to the strong Rashba-Dresselhaus splitting. A Rashba-Dresselhaus field of ≈600 and ≈50 mT for n = 1 and 2, respectively, is estimated by magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy. The studies may have significant impact on designing 2D RPPs with large Rashba-Dresselhaus effects at room temperature for spintronic applications.
Magnetism in curved nano-geometries has opened a new path to design novel characteristics and phenomena that could greatly impact the future fundamental and applied studies of materials. Here, in this report, a hexagonally-packed array of magnetic nano-caps (or nano-patches, NP) exhibiting unique magnetic anisotropy and optimal nanostructure for fast hydrogen kinetics is explored as a sensing element for the spark-free magnetic-circular-dichroism (MCD) H 2 sensor. The MCD H 2 sensor outperforms the state-of-the-art optical sensors reported to date and satisfies the most challenging performance targets imposed by US Department of Energy. In particular, a Pd 67 Co 33 NP sensor exhibits response time of t 90 < 0.9 s, recovery time of t 10 < 9.0 s over the 1-100 mbar H 2 partial pressure range, and limit of detection (LOD) of ~1 ppm. The LOD improves to <700 ppb, when the signal-to-noise ratio is enhanced by stacking three NP arrays. Using a 30-nm TAF (Teflon AF 2400) polymer coating, the sorption kinetics of the Pd 67 Co 33 /TAF sensor are significantly accelerated, with t 90 < 0.4 s and t 10 < 2.8 s over the same pressure range. When the Pd 67 Co 33 /TAF sensor is further coated with a 100-nm poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layer, a rapid sorption time of t 90 < 0.5 s, LOD < 1 ppm and excellent sensor accuracy (<2.5% full scale) are maintained, while the sensor obtains strong selectivity against interference gases and moisture and a negligible aging effect. The MCD nano-cap sensor platform may have a great impact on the future deployment of H 2 fuel, H 2 environmental monitoring sensors, and fast proton-based magneto-ionic devices.
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We report the syntheses of two new series of methacrylate monomers with different backbones: ureidopyrimidinone (PU) and boron-substituted urea pyrimidine (U), which enhance both the mechanical and electrochemical properties of the solid-state electrolyte (SSE) while improving the cycle life of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO 4 , LFP) cathodes. The PU backbone is characterized by four hydrogen bonds (H-bonds), while the U backbone bears only two. Importantly, our research reveals that two H-bonds in these monomers are optimal; in contrast, four are excessive. The exceptional mechanical properties and processability of the SSE with the U series additives, resulting from the optimal H-bonds, were unexpectedly achieved. This leads to the establishment of a “Goldilocks rule” for additive design. The key strategies include: 1) reducing hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) sites by changing pyrimidinone to pyrimidine and 2) shifting from intermolecular to intramolecular H-bonding and π−π bonding. Furthermore, this reduction in H-bonding also offers significant advantages in processability. The advancement can be extended to electrode fabrication, making the manufacturing of all-solid-state batteries more practical and efficient.
The development of a safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is a public health priority. We designed subunit vaccine candidates using self-assembling ferritin nanoparticles displaying one of two multimerized SARS-CoV-2 spikes: full-length ectodomain (S-Fer) or a C-terminal 70 amino-acid deletion (SΔC-Fer). Ferritin is an attractive nanoparticle platform for production of vaccines, and ferritin-based vaccines have been investigated in humans in two separate clinical trials. We confirmed proper folding and antigenicity of spike on the surface of ferritin by cryo-EM and binding to conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies. After a single immunization of mice with either of the two spike ferritin particles, a lentiviral SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus assay revealed mean neutralizing antibody titers at least 2-fold greater than those in convalescent plasma from COVID-19 patients. Additionally, a single dose of SΔC-Fer elicited significantly higher neutralizing responses as compared to immunization with the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) monomer or spike ectodomain trimer alone. After a second dose, mice immunized with SΔC-Fer exhibited higher neutralizing titers than all other groups. Taken together, these results demonstrate that multivalent presentation of SARS-CoV-2 spike on ferritin can notably enhance elicitation of neutralizing antibodies, thus constituting a viable strategy for single-dose vaccination against COVID-19.
Abstract The use of hydrogen as a clean and renewable alternative to fossil fuels requires a suite of flammability mitigating technologies, particularly robust sensors for hydrogen leak detection and concentration monitoring. To this end, we have developed a class of lightweight optical hydrogen sensors based on a metasurface of Pd nano-patchy particle arrays, which fulfills the increasing requirements of a safe hydrogen fuel sensing system with no risk of sparking. The structure of the optical sensor is readily nano-engineered to yield extraordinarily rapid response to hydrogen gas (<3 s at 1 mbar H 2 ) with a high degree of accuracy (<5%). By incorporating 20% Ag, Au or Co, the sensing performances of the Pd-alloy sensor are significantly enhanced, especially for the Pd 80 Co 20 sensor whose optical response time at 1 mbar of H 2 is just ~0.85 s, while preserving the excellent accuracy (<2.5%), limit of detection (2.5 ppm), and robustness against aging, temperature, and interfering gases. The superior performance of our sensor places it among the fastest and most sensitive optical hydrogen sensors.
Spin-driven ferroelectricity phenomena have drawn great interest in the scientific community due to potential application in spintronics and their complex physical mechanisms. A noticeable example of this is multiferroic BaYFeO 4 that exhibits an unconventional magnetoelectric (ME) coupling due to the uncorrelated behavior of the ferroelectric and cycloidal states under an applied magnetic field. To shed more light on this spin-driven ME effect, a high-quality sample of BaYFeO 4 was synthesized by a standard solid-state reaction method, and its high-field (up to 9 T) magnetic properties have been systematically investigated by means of magnetometry, magnetocaloric effect, and Mössbauer measurements over a wide temperature range (5–400 K). In addition, its crystal and magnetic structures have been studied using x-ray and neutron powder diffraction. Results obtained in this work indicate that Fe spins form a long-range spin density wave (SDW) antiferromagnetic (AFM) order at $T_{\text{N1}}$ ~ 50K, which transforms into the cycloidal AFM order at $T_{\text{N2}}$ ~ 35K. A spin-glass-like state emerges below $T^\ast$ ~ 17K, and coexists with the long-range cycloidal AFM one in this temperature range. Magnetocaloric and Mössbauer measurements consistently confirm the robustness of both the long-range SDWand cycloidal AFM orders under applied magnetic fields up to 6 T, whereas the spin-glass state is converted into the ferromagnetic (FM) state when the applied magnetic field exceeds 1 T. These findings pinpoint the fact that the magnetic field evolution of spin correlations from the AFM to FM character in the spin-glass state is responsible for the magnetic field dependence of ferroelectricity in BaYFeO 4 .
Palladium (Pd) and titanium (Ti) exhibit opposite dielectric responses upon hydrogenation, with stronger effects observed in the near-infrared (NIR) region. Leveraging this contrast, we investigated Ti/Pd bilayer thin films as a platform for NIR hydrogen sensing—particularly at telecommunication-relevant wavelengths, where such devices have remained largely unexplored. Ti/Pd bilayers coated with Teflon AF (TAF) and fabricated via sequential electron-beam and thermal evaporation were characterized using optical transmission measurements under repeated hydrogenation cycles. The Ti (5 nm)/Pd (x = 2.5 nm)/TAF (30 nm) architecture showed a 2.7-fold enhancement in the hydrogen-induced optical contrast at 1550 nm compared to Pd/TAF reference films, attributed to the hydrogen ion exchange between the Ti and Pd layers. The optimized structure, with a Pd thickness of x = 1.9 nm, exhibited hysteresis-free sensing behavior, a rapid response time (t90 < 0.35 s at 4% H2), and a detection limit below 10 ppm. It also demonstrated excellent selectivity with negligible cross-sensitivity to CO2, CH4, and CO, as well as high durability, showing less than 6% signal degradation over 135 hydrogenation cycles. These findings establish a scalable, room-temperature NIR hydrogen sensing platform with strong potential for deployment in automotive, environmental, and industrial applications.
As countries with endemic canine rabies progress towards elimination by 2030, it will become necessary to employ techniques to help plan, monitor, and confirm canine rabies elimination. Sequencing can provide critical information to inform control and vaccination strategies by identifying genetically distinct virus variants that may have different host reservoir species or geographic distributions. However, many rabies testing laboratories lack the resources or expertise for sequencing, especially in remote or rural areas where human rabies deaths are highest. We developed a low-cost, high throughput rabies virus sequencing method using the Oxford Nanopore MinION portable sequencer. A total of 259 sequences were generated from diverse rabies virus isolates in public health laboratories lacking rabies virus sequencing capacity in Guatemala, India, Kenya, and Vietnam. Phylogenetic analysis provided valuable insight into rabies virus diversity and distribution in these countries and identified a new rabies virus lineage in Kenya, the first published canine rabies virus sequence from Guatemala, evidence of rabies spread across an international border in Vietnam, and importation of a rabid dog into a state working to become rabies-free in India. Taken together, our evaluation highlights the MinION’s potential for low-cost, high volume sequencing of pathogens in locations with limited resources.