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At least 1,531 records · Page 85

The 2022 Plasma Roadmap: low temperature plasma science and technology

Abstract The 2022 Roadmap is the next update in the series of Plasma Roadmaps published by Journal of Physics D with the intent to identify important outstanding challenges in the field of low-temperature plasma (LTP) physics and technology. The format of the Roadmap is the same as the previous Roadmaps representing the visions of 41 leading experts representing 21 countries and five continents in the various sub-fields of LTP science and technology. In recognition of the evolution in the field, several new topics have been introduced or given more prominence. These new topics and emphasis highlight increased interests in plasma-enabled additive manufacturing, soft materials, electrification of chemical conversions, plasma propulsion, extreme plasma regimes, plasmas in hypersonics, data-driven plasma science and technology and the contribution of LTP to combat COVID-19. In the last few decades, LTP science and technology has made a tremendously positive impact on our society. It is our hope that this roadmap will help continue this excellent track record over the next 5–10 years.

plasma diagnostics↗

Overview of the results from divertor experiments with attached and detached plasmas at Wendelstein 7-X and their implications for steady-state operation

Abstract Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the largest advanced stellarator, is built to demonstrate high power, high performance quasi-continuous operation. Therefore, in the recent campaign, experiments were performed to prepare for long pulse operation, addressing three critical issues: the development of stable detachment, control of the heat and particle exhaust, and the impact of leading edges on plasma performance. The heat and particle exhaust in W7-X is realized with the help of an island divertor, which utilizes large magnetic islands at the plasma boundary. This concept shows very efficient heat flux spreading and favourable scaling with input power. Experiments performed to overload leading edges showed that the island divertor yields good impurity screening. A highlight of the recent campaign was a robust detachment scenario, which allowed reducing power loads even by a factor of ten. At the same time, neutral pressures at the pumping gap entrance yielded the particle removal rate close to the values required for stable density control in steady-state operation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Evaluation of overtime phenotypic variation of yeasts in chronic vulvovaginal candidosis cases

Abstract Chronic vulvovaginal candidosis results either from reinfection or from the ability of Candida spp. to persist in the vulva and/or vagina. Persistence is usually associated with increased antifungal (mainly azoles) resistance rates, which can explain treatment failure, and/or increased expression of virulence factors by Candida spp. The aim of this study was to assess the mechanisms leading to Candida spp persistence, by studying sequential isolates from women with chronic vulvovaginal candidosis, focusing on strains genotypes, azole resistance, and ability to form biofilms along the period of clinical evaluation. The strains were identified at species level by automated analysis of biochemical profiles and molecular typing evaluated by polymorphic DNA analysis. The capacity to form biofilm was assessed with a microtiter plate assay. Fluconazole susceptibility was determined by the microdilution broth assay at both pH 7 (following the recommended guideline) and pH 4.5 (as representative of vaginal pH). We studied samples from 17 clinically recurrent cases. In 53% of the chronic cases there were two or more isolates that had a phylogenetic relationship while the remaining (47%) were caused by different species. In those cases where related strains were involved in recurrence, we verified an increase in MIC at pH 7 and also an increased capacity to form biofilms over time. Significant correlation between these two parameters was observed only in cases caused by C. glabrata, evidencing the importance of these two factors to enhance persistence in the vaginal mucosa for this particular species.

Faria-Gonçalves, Paula↗

Picturing QCD jets in anisotropic matter: from jet shapes to energy energy correlators

Abstract Recent theoretical developments in the description of jet evolution in the quark gluon plasma have allowed to account for the effects of hydrodynamic gradients in the medium modified jet spectra. These constitute a crucial step towards using jets as tomographic probes of the nuclear matter they traverse. In this work, we complement these studies by providing leading order calculations of widely studied jet observables, taking into account matter anisotropies. We show that the energy distribution inside a jet is pushed towards the direction of the largest matter anisotropy, while the away region is depleted. As a consequence, the jet mass and girth gain a non-trivial azimuthal dependence, with the average value of the distribution increasing along the direction of largest gradients. However, we find that, for these jet shapes, matter anisotropic effects can be potentially suppressed by vacuum Sudakov factors. We argue that the recently proposed measurements of energy correlations within jets do not suffer from such effects, with the azimuthal dependence being visible in a large angular window, regardless of the shape of the distribution.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Modeling Redshift-space Clustering with Abundance Matching

Abstract We explore the degrees of freedom required to jointly fit projected and redshift-space clustering of galaxies selected in three bins of stellar mass from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Main Galaxy Sample (SDSS MGS) using a subhalo abundance matching (SHAM) model. We employ emulators for relevant clustering statistics in order to facilitate our analysis, leading to large speed gains with minimal loss of accuracy. We are able to simultaneously fit the projected and redshift-space clustering of the two most massive galaxy samples that we consider with just two free parameters: scatter in stellar mass at fixed SHAM proxy, and the dependence of the SHAM proxy on dark matter halo concentration. We find some evidence for models that include velocity bias, but including orphan galaxies improves our fits to the lower-mass samples significantly. We also model the clustering signals of specific star formation rate (sSFR) selected samples using conditional abundance matching (CAM). We obtain acceptable fits to projected and redshift-space clustering as a function of sSFR and stellar mass using two CAM variants, although the fits are worse than for stellar-mass-selected samples alone. By incorporating nonunity correlations between the CAM proxy and sSFR, we are able to resolve previously identified discrepancies between CAM predictions and SDSS observations of the environmental dependence of quenching for isolated central galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A machine learning approach to emulation and biophysical parameter estimation with the Community Land Model, version 5

Abstract. Land models are essential tools for understanding and predicting terrestrial processes and climate–carbon feedbacks in the Earth system, but uncertainties in their future projections are poorly understood. Improvements in physical process realism and the representation of human influence arguably make models more comparable to reality but also increase the degrees of freedom in model configuration, leading to increased parametric uncertainty in projections. In this work we design and implement a machine learning approach to globally calibrate a subset of the parameters of the Community Land Model, version 5 (CLM5) to observations of carbon and water fluxes. We focus on parameters controlling biophysical features such as surface energy balance, hydrology, and carbon uptake. We first use parameter sensitivity simulations and a combination of objective metrics including ranked global mean sensitivity to multiple output variables and non-overlapping spatial pattern responses between parameters to narrow the parameter space and determine a subset of important CLM5 biophysical parameters for further analysis. Using a perturbed parameter ensemble, we then train a series of artificial feed-forward neural networks to emulate CLM5 output given parameter values as input. We use annual mean globally aggregated spatial variability in carbon and water fluxes as our emulation and calibration targets. Validation and out-of-sample tests are used to assess the predictive skill of the networks, and we utilize permutation feature importance and partial dependence methods to better interpret the results. The trained networks are then used to estimate global optimal parameter values with greater computational efficiency than achieved by hand tuning efforts and increased spatial scale relative to previous studies optimizing at a single site. By developing this methodology, our framework can help quantify the contribution of parameter uncertainty to overall uncertainty in land model projections.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Immunotoxicological and neurotoxicological profile of health effects following subacute exposure to geogenic dust from sand dunes at the Nellis Dunes Recreation Area, Las Vegas, NV

Exposure to geogenic particulate matter (PM) comprised of mineral particles has been linked to human health effects. However, very little data exist on health effects associated with geogenic dust exposure in natural settings. Therefore, we characterized particulate matter size, metal chemistry, and health effects of dust collected from the Nellis Dunes Recreation Area (NDRA), a popular off-road vehicle area located near Las Vegas, NV. Adult female B6C3F1 mice were exposed to several concentrations of mineral dust collected from active and vegetated sand dunes in NDRA. Dust samples (median diameter: 4.4 μm) were suspended in phosphate-buffered saline and delivered at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 100 mg dust/kg body weight by oropharyngeal aspiration. ICP-MS analyses of total dissolution of the dust resulted in aluminum (55,090 μg/g), vanadium (70 μg/g), chromium (33 μg/g), manganese (511 μg/g), iron (21,600 μg/g), cobalt (9.4 μg/g), copper (69 μg/g), zinc (79 μg/g), arsenic (62 μg/g), strontium (620 μg/g), cesium (13 μg/g), lead 25 μg/g) and uranium (4.7 μg/g). Arsenic was present only as As(V). Mice received four exposures, once/week over 28-days to mimic a month of weekend exposures. Descriptive and functional assays to assess immunotoxicity and neurotoxicity were performed 24 h after the final exposure. The primary observation was that 0.1 to 100 mg/kg of this sand dune derived dust dose-responsively reduced antigen-specific IgM antibody responses, suggesting that dust from this area of NDRA may present a potential health risk. - Graphical abstract: During periods of heavy wind erosion, dense dust clouds of locally emitted geogenic dust enrobe the central Nellis Dune Recreation Area dunes. - Highlights: • Toxicological effects were characterized specific to geogenic dust exposure from a recreational sand dune site in Nevada. • The geogenic dust is a mixture of many metals and crystalline silica. • Exposure to geogenic dust dose-responsively decreased IgM antibody responses in a mouse model.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Synthesis, structural and dielectric properties of Ce-doped lead lanthanum titanate

Highlights: • The effect of Ce doping on the structural, dielectric properties and ac conductivity of Pb{sub 0.79-x}Ce{sub x}La{sub 0.21}TiO{sub 3} was studied. • A pseudo-cubic single phase was observed for all samples. • The phase transition temperature is found to decrease with increasing Ce content. • Change of the nature of Pb{sub 0.79}La{sub 0.21}TiO{sub 3} phase transition upon Ce-doping. • Several essential dielectric parameters were extracted. - Abstract: The influence of Ce doping on the structural, dielectric and ac conductivity properties of Pb{sub 0.79-x}Ce{sub x}La{sub 0.21}TiO{sub 3} powders (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.1) was investigated. X-ray diffraction shows that all samples have the pseudo-cubic crystal structure, in which the tetragonality and cell volume decrease with increasing Ce content. The change of the dielectric constant as a function of temperature demonstrates that the phase transition temperature decreases with the increase of Ce content. Normal behavior of the phase transition from ferroelectric to paraelectric was observed for Ce-doped samples, while the undoped powders exhibit a combination of diffuse phase transition and relaxor behaviors. From electrical conductivity versus 1/T plots, we have determined the activation energy, which was found to increase with increasing Ce concentration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

IC Post-Doctoral Fellowship Abstract and Bio.

Whole cell biosensors (WCBs) utilize an organism’s natural ability to sense and respond to the environment. Through implementation of two different protein engineering methods, I seek to develop a WCB for the detection of important chemical signatures in the environment. I will reengineer the ligand binding profile of proteins known to alter transcription of genes, and I will engineer signal transduction in proteins already known to bind relevant compounds. In both cases, detection of compounds of interest will lead to the production of a measurable fluorescent signal within the organism. These approaches will provide the groundwork for the development of novel chemical sensing technologies that provide a cheap and efficient alternative to traditional methods for detection of compounds.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Emerging magnetic materials for electric vehicle drive motors

Abstract Increasing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing demand for the permanent magnets that drive their motors, as approximately 80% of modern EV drivetrains rely on high-performance permanent magnets to convert electricity into torque. In turn, these high-performance permanent magnets rely on rare earth elements for their magnetic properties. These elements are “critical” (i.e., at risk of limiting the growth of renewable energy technologies such as EVs), which motivates an exploration for alternative materials. In this article, we overview the relevant fundamentals of permanent magnets, describe commercialized and emerging materials, and add perspective on future areas of research. Currently, the leading magnetic material for EV motors is Nd 2 Fe 14 B, with samarium-cobalt compounds (SmCo 5 and Sm 2 Co 17 ) providing the only high-performing commercialized alternative. Emerging materials that address criticality concerns include Sm 2 Fe 17 N 3 , Fe 16 N 2 , and the L1 0 structure of FeNi, which use lower cost elements that produce similar magnetic properties. However, these temperature-sensitive materials are incompatible with current metallurgical processing techniques. We provide perspective on how advances in low-temperature synthesis and processing science could unlock new classes of high-performing magnetic materials for a paradigm shift beyond rare earth-based magnets. In doing so, we explore the question: What magnetic materials will drive future EVs? Graphical abstract

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Triplet excited electronic state switching induced by hydrogen bonding: A transient absorption spectroscopy and time-dependent DFT study

The solvent plays a decisive role in the photochemistry and photophysics of aromatic ketones. Xanthone (XT) is one such aromatic ketone and its triplet-triplet (T-T) absorption spectra show intriguing solvatochromic behavior. Also, the reactivity of XT towards H-atom abstraction shows an unprecedented decrease in protic solvents relative to aprotic solvents. Therefore, a comprehensive solvatochromic analysis of the triplet-triplet absorption spectra of XT was carried out in conjunction with time dependent density functional theory using the ad hoc explicit solvent model approach. A detailed solvatochromic analysis of the T-T absorption bands of XT suggests that the hydrogen bonding interactions are different in the corresponding triplet excited states. Furthermore, the contributions of non-specific and hydrogen bonding interactions towards differential solvation of the triplet states in protic solvents were found to be of equal magnitude. The frontier molecular orbital and electron density difference analysis of the T{sub 1} and T{sub 2} states of XT indicates that the charge redistribution in these states leads to intermolecular hydrogen bond strengthening and weakening, respectively, relative to the S{sub 0} state. This is further supported by the vertical excitation energy calculations of the XT-methanol supra-molecular complex. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding potential energy curves obtained for this complex in the S{sub 0}, T{sub 1}, and T{sub 2} states support the model. In summary, we propose that the different hydrogen bonding mechanisms exhibited by the two lowest triplet excited states of XT result in a decreasing role of the nπ{sup ∗} triplet state, and are thus responsible for its reduced reactivity towards H-atom abstraction in protic solvents.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Long‐Life Lithium‐Metal Batteries with an Ultra‐High‐Nickel Cathode and Electrolytes with Bi‐Anion Activity

Abstract Anion chemistry in electrolytes can greatly dictate the nature and quality of passivation layers on both cathode and anode surfaces. This will be more significant when it comes to highly reactive Li‐metal anode and aggressive high‐nickel cathodes. Herein, a competitive bi‐anion activity is found in electrolytes with the co‐existence of two anions, which leads to a controlled Li‐salt decomposition kinetics and entirely favorable interphasial chemistry on both Li‐metal anode and ultrahigh‐nickel cathode. The proposed bi‐anion localized high‐concentration electrolytes are demonstrated to exhibit superior electrochemical compatibility toward Li metal and long‐term cycling stabilities under both 4.4 and 4.6 V in Li‐metal batteries with ultrahigh‐nickel cathode. This study sheds fresh light on dendrite‐free Li‐metal anodes and provides guidance to achieve high‐energy‐density batteries.

Chemistry↗

Tungsten Catalyst Incorporating a Well‐Defined Tetracoordinated Aluminum Surface Ligand for Selective Metathesis of Propane, [(≡Si−O−Si≡)(≡Si−O−) 2 Al−O−W(≡C t Bu) (H) 2 ]

Abstract A well‐defined aluminium‐bound hydroxyl group on the surface of mesoporous SBA‐15, [(≡Si−O−Si≡) (≡Si−O) 2 Al−OH], 3 was obtained by reacting di‐isopropyl aluminium hydride with SBA‐15 treated at 700 °C. The resulting surface [(≡Si−O−Si≡) (≡Si−O) 2 Al (isobutyl) fragment undergoes β‐H elimination at 400 °C leading to [(≡Si−O−Si≡)(≡Si−O−) 2 Al−O) Al−H]. Further oxidation of this Al‐hydride with N 2 O leads to 3 . This acidic support was used to create a well‐defined surface organo‐tungsten fragment [(≡Si−O−Si≡)(≡Si−O−) 2 Al−O−W(≡C t Bu)(CH 2 tBu) 2 ] by reacting 3 with W(≡C‐ t Bu)(CH 2 ‐ t Bu) 3 . A further reaction with hydrogen under mild conditions afforded the tungsten carbyne bis‐hydride [(≡Si−O−Si≡)(≡Si−O−) 2 Al−O−W(H) 2 (≡C‐ t Bu)]. The performance of each of the W‐supported catalysts was assessed for propane metathesis in a flow reactor at 150 °C. [(≡Si−O−Si≡)(≡Si−O−) 2 Al−O−W(≡C t Bu)(H) 2 ] was found to be a single‐site catalyst, giving the highest turnover number (TON=800) and the highest reported selectivity for butane (45 %) vs . ethane (32 %) known for oxide‐supported tungsten complex catalysts (with the supports being silica, silica‐alumina, and alumina). The results demonstrate that modification of the oxide ligands on silica via the creation of Al Lewis acid center as an anchoring site for organometallic complexes opens up new catalytic properties, markedly enhancing the catalytic performance of supported organo‐tungsten species.

Werghi, Baraa↗

White‐tailed deer carrying capacity, intercropping switchgrass, and pine plantations

ABSTRACT Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum ) is a cellulosic feedstock for alternative energy production that can be grown between rows of planted pines ( Pinus spp.) within intensively managed forests. Southeastern planted pine occupies 15.8 million ha and thus, switchgrass intercropping could have far‐ranging effects on plant communities and biomass production within these forests if broadly implemented. Such intercropping could lead to alterations to plant communities that may cause bottom‐up ecological changes affecting ecologically, economically, and socially important wildlife, such as white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ; deer). Therefore, we tested whether intercropping switchgrass in loblolly pine ( P. taeda ) plantations would cause switchgrass to dominate vegetative biomass thereby decreasing biomass of forages and reducing white‐tailed deer nutritional carrying capacity (NCC), or whether disturbance associated with establishment and harvest of switchgrass would facilitate ruderal forbs, and thereby increase biomass of preferred deer forages and increase NCC. In a randomized complete block design, we assigned 2 treatments (intercropped switchgrass and a standard pine management control) to 4 replicates of 10‐ha experimental units in Kemper County, Mississippi during summers of 2011−2015. We detected 323 plant species. Intercropping switchgrass had little effect on plant biomass production, and did not affect white‐tailed deer NCC at a maintenance diet of 6% crude protein. Intercropping provided additional disturbance allowing high‐protein content ruderal plants to colonize, and temporarily increased (3 yr) deer NCC at the 14% crude protein diet considered necessary to support lactation. However, concomitant with a sharp increase in switchgrass biomass in the third year of the study, NCC dropped to levels similar to traditionally managed pine stands. Switchgrass intercropping is not a reliable means of increasing deer NCC as a management strategy but does not appear to reduce carrying capacity in the short‐term relative to standard intensive pine management. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Loman, Zachary G.↗

Community detection and unveiling of hierarchy in networks: a density-based clustering approach

Abstract The unveiling of communities within a network or graph, and the hierarchization of its members that results is of utmost importance in areas ranging from social to biochemical networks, from electronic circuits to cybersecurity. We present a statistical mechanics approach that uses a normalized Gaussian function which captures the impact of a node within its neighborhood and leads to a density-ranking of nodes by considering the distance between nodes as punishment. A hill-climbing procedure is applied to determine the density attractors and identify the unique parent (leader) of each member as well as the group leader. This organization of the nodes results in a tree-like network with multiple clusters, the community tree. The method is tested using synthetic networks generated by the LFR benchmarking algorithm for network sizes between 500 and 30,000 nodes and mixing parameter between 0.1 and 0.9 . Our results show a reasonable agreement with the LFR results for low to medium values of the mixing parameter and indicate a very mild dependence on the size of the network.

Felfli, Zineb (ORCID:0000000275294635)↗

Plant sterols in food: No consensus in guidelines

Highlights: • Plant sterols are used as food supplement to reduce serum cholesterol levels. • Reductions in serum cholesterol levels are achieved at the expense of increased plant sterol levels. • The potential atherogenicity of increased serum plant sterol levels is controversially debated. • This dispute is reflected by different guideline recommendations in regard to plant sterols. - Abstract: Plant sterols are supplemented in foods to reduce cardiovascular risk. Randomized controlled trials show 2 g of plant sterols a day reduce serum cholesterol by about 10%. This reduction in serum cholesterol levels is achieved at the expense of increased serum plant sterol levels. Findings in patients with phytosterolemia, in experimental studies and in clinical trials have lead to speculations that plant sterols might be atherogenic. In view of emerging safety issues the role of plant sterols in cardiovascular prevention has become controversial. This review reflects the ongoing controversial scientific debate and points out recent developments in guidelines of national and international societies.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

[Bmim][TfO] ionic liquid-assisted oriented growth of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoworms

Graphical abstract: Display Omitted Highlights: ► First time, we have used [Bmim][TfO]IL for the synthesis of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoworms. ► IL assists to form oriented growth of cubic Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoworms without intermediate. ► Cubic Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoworms are in the range of 20 nm width and 100–200 nm length. ► IL and oxidizing agent have not altered the Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} structural characteristics. ► Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoworms exhibit crystalline domain dependent weak ferromagnetism. -- Abstract: Monodispersed worm-like structure of Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanocrystals of 20 nm width and 100–200 nm length are prepared directly without any intermediate product by 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethane sulfonate ionic liquid ([Bmim][TfO] IL) assisted precipitation method. The higher concentration of [Bmim][TfO] IL in the reaction medium leads to the formation of homogeneous nanoworms. The effect of synthesis temperature and the oxidizing agent (H{sub 2}O{sub 2}) on the Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} particle's morphology and their magnetic properties are discussed. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis were used to characterize the Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} monodispersed nanoworms. The magnetic property of the spinel Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoworms is highly dependent on crystalline domains and exhibits weak ferromagnetic behavior with a narrow hysteresis loop opening.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Enhanced temperature-stable dielectric properties in oxygen annealed 0.85(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-0.15SrZrO3 ceramic

Highlights: • Prepared O{sub 2}-annealed KNN-15SZ could meet the EIA X8R specification. • Oxygen annealing resulted in different variation of T{sub m} of cores and shells. • Variation of T{sub m} related to decrease of oxygen vacancies and diffusion of KNN. • Enhanced dielectric temperature stability attributed to change of PNRs size. - Abstract: The structure, morphology and dielectric properties of the oxygen annealed (O{sub 2}-annealed) and untreated (as-prepared) 0.85(K{sub 0.5}Na{sub 0.5}) NbO{sub 3}-0·15SrZrO{sub 3} (KNN-15SZ) ceramics were investigated. The temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity shows two diffuse dielectric peaks associated with duplex core-shell structure, leading to relatively stable dielectric permittivity in a wide temperature range. Interestingly, the O{sub 2}-annealed sample with the operating temperature range of −104 °C–157 °C could meet the EIA X8R specification, which is superior to the as-prepared one (−98 °C–130 °C) for the EIA X7R specification. Furthermore, the dielectric contribution from cores and shells of both samples was divided by the Lorentz fitting. The relation between relaxation frequency and temperature of both samples obeyed the Vogel-Fulcher law. This finding could pave a possible way to modify dielectric temperature stability for multilayer ceramic chip capacitors applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗