Dielectric relaxation and conduction mechanism in Aurivillius ceramic Bi5Ti3FeO15

For this study, we synthesized Aurivillius Bi5Ti3FeO15 ceramic using the generic solid-state reaction route and then performed room-temperature X-ray diffraction to confirm that the compound had a single phase with no impurities. The surface morphology of the prepared sample was observed to contain microstructural grains approximately 0.2–2 μm in size. The dielectric properties of the sample were determ-ined as a function of frequency in a range of approximately 100 Hz to 1 MHz at various temperatures (303 K ≤ T ≤ 773 K). Nyquist plots of the impedance data were found to exhibit a semi-circular arc in the high-temperature region, which is explained by the equivalent electrical circuit (R1C1)(R2QC2), where R1 and R2 represent the resistances associated with the grains and grain boundaries, respectively, C1 and C2 are the re-spective capacitances, and Q is the constant phase element (CPE), which accounts for non-Debye type of behavior. Our results indicate that both the resistance and capacitance of the grain boundaries are more prominent than those of the grains. The alternating current (ac) conductiv-ity data were analyzed based on the Jonscher universal power law, which indicated that the conduction process is dominated by the hopping mechanism. The calculated activation energies of the relaxation and conduction processes were very similar (0.32 to 0.53 eV), from which we conclude that the same type of charge carriers are involved in both processes.     

Effect of Co substitution on the structural,dielectric and optical properties of KBiFe2O5

Cobalt (Co)-modified brownmillerite KBiFe2O5 (KBFO; [KBiFe2(1?x)Co2xO5 (x = 0, 0.05)]) polycrystalline is synthesized following the solid-state reaction route. Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction data confirmed the phase purity of KBFO and KBiFe1.9Co0.1O5 (KBFCO). The optical bandgap energy (Eg) of KBFO decreased from 1.59 to 1.51 eV because of Co substitution. The decrease in bandgap can be attributed to the tilting of the Fe–O tetrahedral structure of KBFCO. The observed room-temperature Raman peaks of KBFCO shifted by 3 cm?1 toward a lower wavenumber than that of KBFO. The shift in Raman active modes can be attributed to the change in the bond angles and bond lengths of the Fe–O tetrahedral structure and modification in response to oxygen deficiency in KBFO because of Co doping. Compared with that of KBFO, the frequency-dependent dielectric constant and dielectric loss of KBFCO decrease at room temperature, which is a con-sequence of the reduction in oxygen migration and modification in response to vibrational modes present in the sample.     

The TET enzymes

During the past decade, we have learnt that the most common DNA modification, 5-methylcytosine (5mC), playing crucial roles in development and disease, is not stable but can be actively reversed to its unmodified form via enzymatic catalysis involving the TET enzymes. These ground-breaking discoveries have been achieved thanks to technological advances in the detection of the oxidized forms of 5mC and to the boldness of individual scientists. The TET enzymes require molecular oxygen for their catalysis, making them important targets for hypoxia research. They also require special cofactors which enable additional levels of regulation. Moreover, mutations and other genetic alterations in TETs are found, especially in myeloid malignances. This review focuses on the kinetic and inhibitory properties of the TET enzymes and the role of TETs in cellular differentiation and transformation and in cancer.     

Current knowledge on exosome biogenesis and release

Exosomes are nanosized membrane vesicles released by fusion of an organelle of the endocytic pathway, the multivesicular body, with the plasma membrane. This process was discovered more than 30 years ago, and during these years, exosomes have gone from being considered as cellular waste disposal to mediate a novel mechanism of cell-to-cell communication. The exponential interest in exosomes experienced during recent years is due to their important roles in health and disease and to their potential clinical application in therapy and diagnosis. However, important aspects of the biology of exosomes remain unknown. To explore the use of exosomes in the clinic, it is essential that the basic molecular mechanisms behind the transport and function of these vesicles are better understood. We have here summarized what is presently known about how exosomes are formed and released by cells. Moreover, other cellular processes related to exosome biogenesis and release, such as autophagy and lysosomal exocytosis are presented. Finally, methodological aspects related to exosome release studies are discussed.     

Study on the Centralization Strategy of the Blood Allocation Among Different Departments within a Hospital

By far, the researches on how to distribute blood products among different departments in hospital have not been further studied, though the problem of blood shortage and wastage that caused by improper blood allocation is severe, which may endanger patient’s lives and impose considerable costs on hospitals. In order to solve this problem, this paper mainly studies on how to distribute the blood items among different departments within a hospital and investigates the allocation approach with the novel management method by centralizing the inventory of several different departments. By integrating the blood inventory requirements of some departments, the hospital could reduce the rate of blood shortage and wastage effectively, release the pressure of the occupancy of resources and reduce the bullwhip effect of blood products. This paper illustrates the centralization principle in hospital and formulates the mixed integer programming model to work out the optimal allocation network scheme and the optimal inventory setting for every department. And the results of the numerical example demonstrate that this centralization method could considerably reduce blood shortage and wastage in hospital by about 72% and 90% respectively. Furthermore, it could decrease the total cost by about 108,540 RMB a month on blood supply chain management in the hospital and improve the effect of some certain surgeries by transfusing the fresh blood to patients.     

Fuzzy Views on Black-Litterman Portfolio Selection Model

In this paper, views of investor are described in fuzzy sets, and two fuzzy Black-Litterman models are constructed with fuzzy views and fuzzy random views respectively. In the models, expected returns and uncertainty matrix of views are redefined and the views are formulated by fuzzy approaches suitably. Then the models are tested with data from Chinese financial markets. Empirical results show that the fuzzy random views model performs the best, and both the fuzzy models are better than the traditional ones, demonstrating that the fuzzy approaches can contain more information in the views and measure the uncertainty more correctly.     

Effects of Strain Rate,Temperature and Grain Size on the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Evolutions of Polycrystalline Nickel Nanowires: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Through molecular dynamics(MD)simulation,the dependencies of temperature,grain size and strain rate on the mechanical properties were studied.The simulation results demonstrated that the strain rate from 0.05 to 2 ns~(–1 )affected the Young’s modulus of nickel nanowires slightly,whereas the yield stress increased.The Young’s modulus decreased approximately linearly;however,the yield stress firstly increased and subsequently dropped as the temperature increased.The Young’s modulus and yield stress increased as the mean grain size increased from 2.66 to6.72 nm.Moreover,certain efforts have been made in the microstructure evolution with mechanical properties association under uniaxial tension.Certain phenomena such as the formation of twin structures,which were found in nanowires with larger grain size at higher strain rate and lower temperature,as well as the movement of grain boundaries and dislocation,were detected and discussed in detail.The results demonstrated that the plastic deformation was mainly accommodated by the motion of grain boundaries for smaller grain size.However,for larger grain size,the formations of stacking faults and twins were the main mechanisms of plastic deformation in the polycrystalline nickel nanowire.     

Control of excessive neural circuit excitability and prevention of epileptic seizures by endocannabinoid signaling

Progress in research on endocannabinoid signaling has greatly advanced our understanding of how it controls neural circuit excitability in health and disease. In general, endocannabinoid signaling at excitatory synapses suppresses seizures by inhibiting glutamate release. In contrast, endocannabinoid signaling promotes seizures by inhibiting GABA release at inhibitory synapses. The physiological distribution of endocannabinoid signaling molecules becomes disrupted with the development of epileptic focus in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and in animal models of experimentally induced epilepsy. Augmentation of endocannabinoid signaling can promote the development of epileptic focus at initial stages. However, at later stages, increased endocannabinoid signaling delays it and suppresses spontaneous seizures. Thus, the regulation of endocannabinoid signaling at specific synapses that cause hyperexcitability during particular stages of disease development may be effective for treating epilepsy and epileptogenesis.