Magnetic skin layer of NiO(100) probed by polarization-dependent spectromicroscopy

Using polarization-dependent x-ray photoemission electron microscopy, we have investigated the surface effects on antiferromagnetic (AFM) domain formation. Depth-resolved information obtained from our study indicates the presence of strain-induced surface AFM domains on some of the cleaved NiO(100) crystals, which are unusually thinner than bulk AFM domain wall widths (similar to 150 nm). Existence of such magnetic skin layer is substantiated by exchange-coupled ferromagnetic Fe domains in Fe/NiO(100), thereby evidencing the influence of this surface AFM domains on interfacial magnetic coupling. Our observations demonstrate a depth evolution of AFM structure in presence of induced surface strain, while the surface symmetry-breaking in absence of induced strain does not modify the bulk AFM domain structure. Realization of such thin surface AFM layer will provide better microscopic understanding of the exchange bias phenomena. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Orientation, Size, and Temperature Dependent Ductile Brittle Transition in NiAl Nanowire under Tensile Loading - A Molecular Dynamics Study

In the present paper, thermo-mechanical response of B2-NiAl nanowire along the < 100 >, < 110 >, and < 111 > orientations has been studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Nanowire with cross-sectional dimensions of similar to 20x20 angstrom(2), similar to 25x25 angstrom(2), and similar to 30x30 angstrom(2) and temperature range of 10 K-900 K has been considered. A Combined effect of size, orientation, and temperature on the stress-strain behavior under uniaxial tensile loading has been presented. It has been observed that < 111 > oriented NiAl nanowire that is energetically most stable gives highest yield stress which further reduces with < 110 > and < 100 > orientations. A remarkable ductile brittle transition (DBT) with an increase in temperature has also been reported for all the orientations considered in the present study. The DBT observed for the nanowire has also been compared with the reported DBT of bulk B2-NiAl obtained from experiments. Alternate technique has also been proposed to increase the toughness of a given material especially at lower temperature regions, i.e. below DBT.

The morphology dependent electrocatalytic activity of Ir nanostructures towards oxygen reduction

Iridium nanostructures with different morphologies are synthesized by a simple, environmentally friendly approach in aqueous media under mild conditions. The morphology dependent electrocatalytic activity of Ir nanochains and nanoparticles towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been demonstrated in both acidic and alkaline media. Comparative electrochemical studies reveal that nanochains exhibit significantly enhanced ORR activities in both acidic and alkaline media as compared with nanoparticles, as a result of the continuous structure of interconnected particles. The mechanism of oxygen reduction on Ir nanostructures predominantly follows a four-electron pathway in alkaline and acidic solutions. Excellent stability and good selectivity towards methanol tolerance are reported.

Depression biased non-Hebbian spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity in the rat subiculum

The subiculum is a structure that forms a bridge between the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex (EC), and plays a major role in the memory consolidation process. Here, we demonstrate spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) at the proximal excitatory inputs on the subicular pyramidal neurons of juvenile rat. Causal (positive) pairing of a single EPSP with a single back-propagating action potential (bAP) after a time interval of 10 ms (+10 ms) failed to induce plasticity. However, increasing the number of bAPs in a burst to three, at two different frequencies of 50 Hz (bAP burst) and 150 Hz, induced long-term depression (LTD) after a time interval of +10 ms in both the regular-firing (RF), and the weak burst firing (WBF) neurons. The LTD amplitude decreased with increasing time interval between the EPSP and the bAP burst. Reversing the order of the pairing of the EPSP and the bAP burst induced LTP at a time interval of -10 ms. This finding is in contrast with reports at other synapses, wherein prebefore postsynaptic (causal) pairing induced LTP and vice versa. Our results reaffirm the earlier observations that the relative timing of the pre- and postsynaptic activities can lead to multiple types of plasticity profiles. The induction of timing-dependent LTD (t-LTD) was dependent on postsynaptic calcium change via NMDA receptors in the WBF neurons, while it was independent of postsynaptic calcium change, but required active L-type calcium channels in the RF neurons. Thus the mechanism of synaptic plasticity may vary within a hippocampal subfield depending on the postsynaptic neuron involved. This study also reports a novel mechanism of LTD induction, where L-type calcium channels are involved in a presynaptically induced synaptic plasticity. The findings may have strong implications in the memory consolidation process owing to the central role of the subiculum and LTD in this process.

Phonon anomalies, orbital-ordering and electronic raman scattering in iron-pnictide Ca(Fe0.97Co0.03)(2)As-2: temperature-dependent Raman study

We report inelastic light scattering studies on Ca(Fe0.97Co0.03)(2)As-2 in a wide spectral range of 120-5200 cm(-1) from 5 to 300 K, covering the tetragonal to orthorhombic structural transition as well as magnetic transition at T-sm similar to 160 K. The mode frequencies of two first-order Raman modes B-1g and E-g, both involving the displacement of Fe atoms, show a sharp increase below T-sm. Concomitantly, the linewidths of all the first-order Raman modes show anomalous broadening below T-sm, attributed to strong spin-phonon coupling. The high frequency modes observed between 400 and 1200 cm(-1) are attributed to electronic Raman scattering involving the crystal field levels of d-orbitals of Fe2+. The splitting between xz and yz d-orbital levels is shown to be similar to 25 meV, which increases as temperature decreases below T-sm. A broad Raman band observed at similar to 3200 cm(-1) is assigned to two-magnon excitation of the itinerant Fe 3d antiferromagnet.

Temperature-dependent stability of stacking faults in Al, Cu and Ni: first-principles analysis

We present comparative analysis of microscopic mechanisms relevant to plastic deformation of the face-centered cubic (FCC) metals Al, Cu, and Ni, through determination of the temperature-dependent free energies of intrinsic and unstable stacking faults along 1 (1) over bar 0] and 1 (2) over bar 1] on the (1 1 1) plane using first-principles density-functional-theory-based calculations. We show that vibrational contribution results in significant decrease in the free energy of barriers and intrinsic stacking faults (ISFs) of Al, Cu, and Ni with temperature, confirming an important role of thermal fluctuations in the stability of stacking faults (SFs) and deformation at elevated temperatures. In contrast to Al and Ni, the vibrational spectrum of the unstable stacking fault (USF1 (2) over bar 1]) in Cu reveals structural instabilities, indicating that the energy barrier (gamma(usf)) along the (1 1 1)1 (2) over bar 1] slip system in Cu, determined by typical first-principles calculations, is an overestimate, and its commonly used interpretation as the energy release rate needed for dislocation nucleation, as proposed by Rice (1992 J. Mech. Phys. Solids 40 239), should be taken with caution.

The WNT Signaling Pathway Contributes to Dectin-1-Dependent Inhibition of Toll-Like Receptor-Induced Inflammatory Signature

Macrophages regulate cell fate decisions during microbial challenges by carefully titrating signaling events activated by innate receptors such as dectin-1 or Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Here, we demonstrate that dectin-1 activation robustly dampens TLR-induced proinflammatory signature in macrophages. Dectin-1 induced the stabilization of beta-catenin via spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk)-reactive oxygen species (ROS) signals, contributing to the expression of WNT5A. Subsequently, WNT5A-responsive protein inhibitors of activated STAT (PIAS-1) and suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS-1) mediate the downregulation of IRAK-1, IRAK-4, and MyD88, resulting in decreased expression of interleukin 12 (IL-12), IL-1 beta, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). In vivo activation of dectin-1 with pathogenic fungi or ligand resulted in an increased bacterial burden of Mycobacteria, Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, or Escherichia, with a concomitant decrease in TLR-triggered proinflammatory cytokines. All together, our study establishes a new role for dectin-1-responsive inhibitory mechanisms employed by virulent fungi to limit the proinflammatory environment of the host.

Grain and the concomitant ferroelectric domain size dependent physical properties of Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 ceramics fabricated using powders derived from oxalate precursor route

Fine powders comprising nanocrystallites of Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 (BCZT) were synthesized via oxalate precursor method, which facilitated to obtain homogenous and large grain sized ceramics at a lower sintering temperature. The compacted powders were sintered at various temperatures in the range of 1200 degrees C-1500 degrees C for an optimized duration of 10 h. Interestingly the one that was sintered at 1450 degrees C/10 h exhibited well resolved Morphotrophic Phase Boundary. The average grain size associated with this sample was 30 mu m accompanied by higher domain density mostly with 90 degrees twinning. These were believed to have significant contribution towards obtaining large strain of about 0.2% and piezoelectric coefficient as high as 563 pC/N. The maximum force that was generated by BCZT ceramic (having 30 mu m grain size) was found to be 161 MPa, which is much higher than that of known actuator materials such as PZT (40MPa) and NKN-5-LT (7 MPa). (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Field dependent and disorder-induced nonlinear charge transport in electrochemically doped polypyrrole devices

Electric field activated charge transport is studied in the metal/polymer/metal device structure of electropolymerized polypyrrole down to 10 K with varying carrier density and disorder. Disorder induced nonlinear behaviour is observed in polypyrrole devices grown at room temperature which is correlated to delocalization of states. The slope parameter of currentvoltage characteristics (in log-log scale) increases as the temperature decreases, which indicates the onset of stronger field dependence. The field dependence of mobility becomes dominant as the carrier density decreases. The sharp dip in differential conductance indicates the localization of carriers at low temperatures which reduces the effective number of carriers involved in the transport.

Temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics of zinc oxide nanowire/polypyrrole nanocomposite

Temperature dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements of electrochemically prepared zinc oxide nanowire/polypyrrole (ZnONW/PPy) nanocomposite yielded non-linear I-V characteristics at temperatures between 300 and 4.5 K. The low-field conductance (G) of the ZnONW/PPy film exhibits pronounced temperature dependence with room temperature conductance (G(300K)) similar to 10(-3) S and a conductance ratio (G(300)K/G(4.5K)) of similar to 10(4), indicating dominance of significant temperature dependent charge transport processes. The conduction mechanism of the film is satisfactorily understood by extended fluctuation induced tunneling (FIT) model as the non-linear I-V characteristics fit fairly well to the extended FIT model. Further, the temperature dependence of G(o) obtained from fitting followed Sheng's model also. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Two-point correlation function of an exclusion process with hole-dependent rates

We consider an exclusion process on a ring in which a particle hops to an empty neighboring site with a rate that depends on the number of vacancies n in front of it. In the steady state, using the well-known mapping of this model to the zero-range process, we write down an exact formula for the partition function and the particle-particle correlation function in the canonical ensemble. In the thermodynamic limit, we find a simple analytical expression for the generating function of the correlation function. This result is applied to the hop rate u(n) = 1 + (b/n) for which a phase transition between high-density laminar phase and low-density jammed phase occurs for b > 2. For these rates, we find that at the critical density, the correlation function decays algebraically with a continuously varying exponent b - 2. We also calculate the two-point correlation function above the critical density and find that the correlation length diverges with a critical exponent nu = 1/(b - 2) for b < 3 and 1 for b > 3. These results are compared with those obtained using an exact series expansion for finite systems.

Interaction of Sesbania mosaic virus (SeMV) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) with the p10 domain of polyprotein 2a and its implications in SeMV replication

Identification of viral encoded proteins that interact with RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is an important step towards unraveling the mechanism of replication. Sesbania mosaic virus (SeMV) RdRp was shown to interact strongly with p10 domain of polyprotein 2a and moderately with the protease domain. Mutational analysis suggested that the C-terminal disordered domain of RdRp is involved in the interaction with p10. Coexpression of full length RdRp and p10 resulted in formation of RdRp-p10 complex which showed significantly higher polymerase activity than RdRp alone. Interestingly, C Delta 43 RdRp also showed a similar increase in activity. Thus, p10 acts as a positive regulator of RdRp by interacting with the C-terminal disordered domain of RdRp. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Orientation dependent mechanical properties of commercially pure (cp) titanium

The present investigation is an attempt at correlating the crystallographic orientation and mechanical properties of hexagonal commercially pure titanium (cp-titanium). Annealed cp-titanium sheets are subjected to tensile deformation along the rolling direction, along 45 degrees to the rolling direction and along 90 degrees to the rolling direction respectively. Crystallographic textures and mechanical properties of these cp-titanium samples are investigated in the present study. The hardness of different grains/orientations is estimated through nanoindentation, grain average misorientation, orientation estimated elastic stiffness and Taylor factor measurements. It is observed that the hardness of the grains close to basal orientation is higher compared to non-basal orientations. It is further observed that the estimated bulk mechanical properties of cp-titanium have a direct relationship with the volume fraction of basal grains/orientations. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.

Temporally distinct roles of ATM and ROS in genotoxic- stress-dependent induction and maintenance of cellular senescence

Cells exposed to genotoxic stress induce cellular senescence through a DNA damage response (DDR) pathway regulated by ATM kinase and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we show that the regulatory roles for ATM kinase and ROS differ during induction and maintenance of cellular senescence. Cells treated with different genotoxic agents were analyzed using specific pathway markers and inhibitors to determine that ATM kinase activation is directly proportional to the dose of the genotoxic stress and that senescence initiation is not dependent on ROS or the p53 status of cells. Cells in which ROS was quenched still activated ATM and initiated the DDR when insulted, and progressed normally to senescence. By contrast, maintenance of a viable senescent state required the presence of ROS as well as activated ATM. Inhibition or removal of either of the components caused cell death in senescent cells, through a deregulated ATM-ROS axis. Overall, our work demonstrates existence of an intricate temporal hierarchy between genotoxic stress, DDR and ROS in cellular senescence. Our model reports the existence of different stages of cellular senescence with distinct regulatory networks.

Domain size correlated magnetic properties and electrical impedance of size dependent nickel ferrite nanoparticles

We report here the investigations on the size dependent variation of magnetic properties of nickel ferrite nanoparticles. Nickel ferrite nanoparticles of different sizes (14 to 22 nm) were prepared by the sol-gel route at different annealing temperatures. They are characterized by TGA-DTA, XRD, SEM, TEM and Raman spectroscopy techniques for the confirmation of the temperature of phase formation, thermal stability, crystallinity, morphology and structural status of the nickel ferrite nanoparticles. The magnetization studies revealed that the saturation magnetization (M-s), retentivity (M-r) increase, while coercivity (H-c) and anisotropy (K-eff) decrease as the particle size increases. The observed value of M-s is found to be relatively higher for a particle size of 22 nm. In addition, we have estimated the magnetic domain size using magnetic data and correlated to the average particle size. The calculated magnetic domain size is closely matching with the particle size estimated from XRD. Impedance spectroscopy was employed to study the samples in an equivalent circuit to understand their transport phenomena. It shows that nickel ferrite nanoparticles exhibit a non-Debye behavior with increasing particle size due to the influence of increasing disorders, surface effects, grain size and grain boundaries, etc. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.