Mutual Effect of Components of Protective Films Applied on Copper and Brass from Octadecylamine and 1,2,3-Benzotriazole Vapors

It has been shown by a set of corrosion, electrochemical and physical methods that a chamber corrosion inhibitor that consists of a mixture of octadecylamine (ODA) and benzotriazole (BTA) efficiently protects copper and brass from atmospheric corrosion and can be used for the temporary protection of metal items. The optimum temperatures of treatment with the ODA + BTA mixed inhibitor is 120 °C for brass and 100 °C for copper. One-hour treatment in ODA + BTA vapors at these temperatures results in the formation of nanosized adsorption films on the surface of these metals. These films stabilize the passive state and provide efficient temporary protection of metal items. The ODA + BTA inhibitor is superior to its components in terms of protective aftereffect. Our analysis of the mutual effect of BTA and ODA indicated that they show an antagonism of protective action on copper, but there is also a synergistic enhancement in the case of brass. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies demonstrate that the inhibitors in question mainly act by using a blocking mechanism on copper and brass. Chamber treatment of the metals studied in vapors of the ODA + BTA mixture resulted in a noticeable hydrophobization of the copper surface and an insignificant effect on the brass surface. Chamber treatment of copper samples with artificially created polymodal roughness made it possible to obtain a superhydrophobic surface.     

Impact of estrogen receptor α on the tamoxifen response and prognosis in luminal-A-like and luminal-B-like breast cancer

Clinical and Experimental Medicine - The luminal-A-like and luminal-B-like breast cancer groups have distinct biological features that lead to differences in the treatment response and clinical...     

Mode Coupling at around M-Point in PZT

The question of the microscopic origin of the M-superstructure and additional satellite peaks in the Zr-rich lead zirconate-titanate is discussed for nearly 50 years. Clear contradiction between the selection rules of the critical scattering and the superstructure was found preventing unambiguous attributing of the observed superstructure either to the rotation of the oxygen octahedra or to the antiparallel displacements of the lead cations. Detailed analysis of the satellite pattern explained it as the result of the incommensurate phase transition rather than antiphase domains. Critical dynamics is the key point for the formulated problems. Recently, the oxygen tilt soft mode in the PbZr0.976Ti0.024O3 (PZT2.4) was found. But this does not resolve the extinction rules contradiction. The results of the inelastic X-ray scattering study of the phonon spectra of PZT2.4 around M-point are reported. Strong coupling between the lead and oxygen modes resulting in mode anticrossing and creation of the wide flat part in the lowest phonon dispersion curves is identified. This flat part corresponds to the mixture of the displacements of the lead and oxygen ions and can be an explanation of the extinction rules contradiction. Moreover, a flat dispersion surface is a typical prerequisite for the incommensurate phase transition.     

Study on the Hot Deformation Behavior of Stainless Steel AISI 321

In this study, the hot deformation behavior of austenitic Ti-modified AISI 321 steel with a relatively high content of carbon (0.07 wt.%) and titanium (0.50 wt.%) was studied in the temperature range of 1000–1280 °C and strain rates in the range of 0.01–1 s⁻¹. Hot deformation was carried out with uniaxial compression of cylindrical specimens on a Gleeble 3800 thermomechanical simulator. It is shown that the flow stress increased with a decrease in the deformation temperature and an increase in the strain rate. The shape of the stress-strain curves indicates that, at high temperatures and low strain rates, the hot deformation of AISI 321 steel was accompanied by dynamic recrystallization. The passage of dynamic recrystallization was confirmed by microstructural studies. Hyperbolic sine type of constitutive equation with deformation activation energy Q = 444.2 kJ·mol⁻¹ was established by analyzing the experimental flow stresses. The power-law dependences of the critical strain necessary for the onset of dynamic recrystallization and the size of recrystallized grains on the Zener–Hollomon parameter were established. The value of the parameter Z = 5.6 × 10¹⁵ was determined, above which the dynamic recrystallization was abruptly suppressed in the steel under study. It is speculated that the suppression of dynamic recrystallization occurs due to dispersed precipitates of titanium carbonitrides.     

Immunobiological Characteristics of the Attenuated African Swine Fever Virus Strain Katanga-350

The African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the cause of a recent pandemic that is threatening the global pig industry. The virus infects domestic and wild pigs and manifests with a variety of clinical symptoms, depending on the strain. No commercial vaccine is currently available to protect animals from this virus, but some attenuated and recombinant live vaccine candidates might be effective against the disease. This article describes the immunobiological characteristics of one such candidate—the laboratory-attenuated ASFV strain, Katanga-350—which belongs to genotype I. In this study, we assessed clinical signs and post-mortem changes, the levels of viremia and the presence of viral DNA caused by injection of ASF virus strains Katanga-350, Lisbon-57, and Stavropol 08/01. Intramuscular injection of this strain protected 80% of pigs from a virulent strain of the same genotype and seroimmunotype (Lisbon-57). At least 50% of the surviving pigs received protection from subsequent intramuscular infection with a heterologous (genotype II, seroimmunotype VIII) virulent strain (Stavropol 08/01). Virus-specific antibodies were detectable in serum and saliva samples between 8–78 days after the first inoculation of the Katanga-350 strain (the observational period). The results suggested that this strain could serve as a basis for the development of a recombinant vaccine against ASF viruses belonging to seroimmunotype I.     

VOx Phase Mixture of Reduced Single Crystalline V2O5: VO2 Resistive Switching

The strongly correlated electron material, vanadium dioxide (VO2), has seen considerable attention and research application in metal-oxide electronics due to its metal-to-insulator transition close to room temperature. Vacuum annealing a V2O5(010) single crystal results in Wadsley phases (VnO2n+1, n > 1) and VO2. The resistance changes by a factor of 20 at 342 K, corresponding to the metal-to-insulator phase transition of VO2. Macroscopic voltage-current measurements with a probe separation on the millimetre scale result in Joule heating-induced resistive switching at extremely low voltages of under a volt. This can reduce the hysteresis and facilitate low temperature operation of VO2 devices, of potential benefit for switching speed and device stability. This is correlated to the low resistance of the system at temperatures below the transition. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements reveal a complex structural relationship between V2O5, VO2 and V6O13 crystallites. Percolation paths incorporating both VO2 and metallic V6O13 are revealed, which can reduce the resistance below the transition and result in exceptionally low voltage resistive switching.     

Mapping the diatom redox-sensitive proteome provides insight into response to nitrogen stress in the marine environment

Diatoms are ubiquitous marine photosynthetic eukaryotes responsible for approximately 20% of global photosynthesis. Little is known about the redox-based mechanisms that mediate diatom sensing and acclimation to environmental stress. Here we used a quantitative mass spectrometry-based approach to elucidate the redox-sensitive signaling network (redoxome) mediating the response of diatoms to oxidative stress. We quantified the degree of oxidation of 3,845 cysteines in the Phaeodactylum tricornutum proteome and identified approximately 300 redox-sensitive proteins. Intriguingly, we found redox-sensitive thiols in numerous enzymes composing the nitrogen assimilation pathway and the recently discovered diatom urea cycle. In agreement with this finding, the flux from nitrate into glutamine and glutamate, measured by the incorporation of ¹⁵N, was strongly inhibited under oxidative stress conditions. Furthermore, by targeting the redox-sensitive GFP sensor to various subcellular localizations, we mapped organelle-specific oxidation patterns in response to variations in nitrogen quota and quality. We propose that redox regulation of nitrogen metabolism allows rapid metabolic plasticity to ensure cellular homeostasis, and thus is essential for the ecological success of diatoms in the marine ecosystem.Aerobic organisms produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a byproduct of oxygen-based metabolic pathways, such as photosynthesis, photorespiration, and oxidative phosphorylation (1). Perturbations in oxygenic metabolism under various stress conditions can induce oxidative stress from overproduction of ROS (2, 3). Because ROS are highly reactive forms of oxygenic metabolites, critical mechanisms for ROS detoxification have evolved consisting of ROS-scavenging enzymes and small molecules, including glutathione (GSH) (4). As the most abundant low molecular weight thiol antioxidant, GSH has critical roles in maintaining a proper cellular thiol–disulfide balance and in detoxifying H₂O₂ via the ascorbate–GSH cycle (5).Although classically ROS were considered toxic metabolic byproducts that ultimately lead to cell death, it is now recognized that ROS act as central secondary messengers involved in compartmentalized signaling networks (1, 6–8). Modulation of various cell processes by ROS signaling is mediated largely by posttranslational thiol oxidation, whereby their physical structure and biochemical activity are modified upon oxidation (9). Thus, the redox states of these proteins possess crucial information needed for cell acclimation to stress conditions (10, 11). The emergence of advanced redox proteomic approaches, such as the OxICAT method (12), has created new opportunities to identify redox-sensitive proteins (e.g., redoxome) on the system level and to quantify their precise level of oxidation on exposure to environmental stress conditions.Marine photosynthetic microorganisms (phytoplankton) are the basis of marine food webs. Despite the fact that their biomass represents only approximately 0.2% of the photosynthetic biomass on earth, they are responsible for nearly 50% of the annual global carbon-based photosynthesis and greatly influence the global biogeochemical carbon cycle (13). This high ratio of productivity to biomass, reflected in high turnover rates, makes phytoplankton highly responsive to climate change. Phytoplankton can grow rapidly and form massive blooms that stretch over hundreds of kilometers in the oceans and are regulated by such environmental factors as nutrient availability and biotic interactions with grazers and viruses.Diatoms are a highly diverse clade of phytoplankton, responsible for roughly 20% of global primary productivity (14). Consequently, diatoms play a central role in the biogeochemical cycling of important nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen, and silica, which constitute part of their ornate cell wall. As members of the eukaryotic group known as stramenopiles (or heterokonts), diatoms are derived from a secondary endosymbiotic event involving red and green algae engulfed within an ancestral protest (15).The unique multilineage content of diatom genomes reveals a melting pot of biochemical characteristics that resemble bacterial, plant, and animal traits, including the integration of a complete urea cycle, fatty acid oxidation in the mitochondria, and plant C4-like related pathways (16, 17). During bloom succession, phytoplankton cells are subjected to diverse environmental stress conditions that lead to ROS production, such as allelopathic interactions (18), CO₂ availability (19, 20), UV exposure (21), iron limitation (22), and viral infection (23). Recently reported evidence suggests that diatoms possess a surveillance system based on the induction of ROS that have been implicated in response to various environmental stresses (22, 24). Nevertheless, very little is known about cell signaling processes in marine phytoplankton and their potential role in acclimation to rapid fluctuations in the chemophysical gradients in the marine environment (25).Using a mass spectrometry-based approach, we examined the diatom redoxome and quantified its degree of oxidation under oxidative stress conditions. The wealth of recently identified redox-sensitive proteins participating in various cellular functions suggests a fundamental role of redox regulation in diatom biology. We mapped the redox-sensitive enzymes into a metabolic network and evaluated their role in the adjustment of metabolic flux under variable environmental conditions. We further explored the redox sensitivity of the primary nitrogen-assimilating pathway and demonstrated the role of compartmentalized redox regulation in cells under nitrogen stress conditions using a redox-sensitive GFP sensor targeted to specific subcellular localizations.