Simulations show that when low-volume fractions of nanoscale rods are immersed in a binary, phase-separating blend, the rods self-assemble into needle-like, percolating networks. The interconnected network arises through the dynamic interplay of phase-separation between the fluids, through preferential adsorption of the minority component onto the mobile rods, and through rod-rod repulsion. Such cooperative effects provide a means of manipulating the motion of nanoscopic objects and directing their association into supramolecular structures. Increasing the rod concentration beyond the effective percolation threshold drives the system to self-assemble into a lamellar morphology, with layers of wetted rods alternating with layers of the majority-component fluid. This approach can potentially yield organic/inorganic composites that are ordered on nanometer scales and exhibit electrical or structural integrity.

KBe BO F (KBBF) is still the only practically usable crystal that can generate deep-ultraviolet (DUV) coherent light by direct second harmonic generation (SHG). However, applications are hindered by layering, leading to difficulty in the growth of thick crystals and compromised mechanical integrity. Despite efforts, it is still a great challenge to discover new nonlinear optical (NLO) materials that overcome the layering while keeping the DUV SHG available. Now, two new DUV NLO beryllium borates have been successfully designed and synthesized, NH Be BO F (ABBF) and γ-Be BO F (γ-BBF), which not only overcome the layering but also can be used as next-generation DUV NLO materials with the shortest type I phase-matching second-harmonic wavelength down to 173.9 nm and 146 nm, respectively. Significantly, γ-BBF is superior to KBBF in all metrics and would be the most outstanding DUV NLO crystal.

We simulate the motion of spherical particles in a phase-separating binary mixture. By combining cell dynamical equations with Langevin dynamics for particles, we show that the addition of hard particles significantly changes both the speed and the morphology of the phase separation. At the late stage of the spinodal decomposition process, particles significantly slow down the domain growth, in qualitative agreement with earlier experimental data. 64.75.+g, 64.60.Ak, 66.30.Jt Phase separation plays a significant role in determining the morphology and properties of polymer composites, which typically involve a blend of various macromolecular fluids and solid "filler" particles [1]. Despite the utility of these composites, there is little understanding of the kinetic processes (including phase separation and wetting) that occur in the complex mixtures. While phase separation in binary systems has been studied extensively theoretically and experimentally [2,3], the influence of solid additives on the mixtures is still poorly understood. Recent studies have shed light on the interactions between a phase-separating fluid and a stationary wall [4], sphere [5] or substrate [6,7], but much less is known about the kinetics of mixtures that contain mobile particles. To address this problem, Tanaka et al. [8] examined the properties of a polymeric mixture undergoing a critical quench in the presence of small glass particles, which are preferentially wet by one of the components. Their results revealed that even a small concentration of hard particles significantly changes the morphology and dynamics of the phase separation process. However, no theoretical or computational model was developed to characterize these changes.In this Letter, we report the first simulations of hard mobile particles in a phase-separating binary mixture. Unlike earlier dynamical models of ternary systems (developed mostly for oil-water-surfactant mixtures [9-12]), we explicitly take into account the "excluded volume" interaction between the particles and the background fluid. Furthermore, we can vary the particle-fluid interactions, allowing for a richer range of behavior than that of a surfactant. Thus, the model presents a new means of exploring the physical properties of complex mixtures containing colloidal particles. Here, we consider particles that are preferentially wet by one of the two components and show that the boundary and "excluded volume" conditions at the particle surfaces significantly slow down the domain growth and change the morphology at the late stage of the phase separation.We consider a phase-separating symmetric binary AB mixture that is characterized by the scalar order parameter Ψ. The phase separation dynamics are described by the Cahn-Hilliard equation,where Γ is a kinetic coefficient, ξ is a conserved zero mean Gaussian white noise with covariance ξ(r, t)ξ(r ′ , t, and F is a free-energy usually given by the Ginzburg-Landau functional,Into this system, we introduce spherical particles of radius R 0 that undergo Bro...

BackgroundInterleukin (IL)-32 is a recently described pro-inflammatory cytokine that has been reported to be induced by bacteria treatment in culture cells. Little is known about IL-32 production by exogenous pathogens infection in human individuals.Methods and FindingsIn this study, we found that IL-32 level was increased by 58.2% in the serum samples from a cohort of 108 patients infected by influenza A virus comparing to that of 115 healthy individuals. Another pro-inflammatory factor cyclooxygenase (COX)-2-associated prostaglandin E2 was also upregulated by 2.7-fold. Expression of IL-32 in influenza A virus infected A549 human lung epithelial cells was blocked by either selective COX-2 inhibitor NS398 or Aspirin, a known anti-inflammatory drug, indicating IL-32 was induced through COX-2 in the inflammatory cascade. Interestingly, we found that COX-2-associate PGE2 production activated by influenza virus infection was significantly suppressed by over-expression of IL-32 but increased by IL-32-specific siRNA, suggesting there was a feedback mechanism between IL-32 and COX-2.ConclusionsIL-32 is induced by influenza A virus infection via COX-2 in the inflammatory cascade. Our results provide that IL-32 is a potential target for anti-inflammatory medicine screening.

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Currently, to obtain new ultraviolet (UV) nonlinear optical (NLO) materials with large second-harmonic generation (SHG) response and short SHG phase-matching cutoff wavelength (λ PM ) is still very challenging. Herein, through evolving the KBe 2 BO 3 F 2 (KBBF) structure to a carbonate system, a novel hydroxycarbonate UV NLO crystal, NaZnCO 3 (OH), was successfully synthesized. It not only possessed the typical structural characteristics of KBBF but also enhanced the bonding force between functional layers. Remarkably, in this crystal, the rare coexistence of a very large SHG response of 5.2 × KH 2 PO 4 (KDP, @1064 nm) and short type-I SHG λ PM of 201 nm had been achieved, indicating that it was a promising UV NLO crystal. This work showed the great significance of KBBF structure evolution and provided new opportunity to design UV NLO materials with good performance.

Ulva prolifera, a common green seaweed, is one of the causative species of green tides that occurred frequently along the shores of Qingdao in 2008 and had detrimental effects on the preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games sailing competition, since more than 30 percent of the area of the games was invaded. In view of the rapid accumulation of the vast biomass of floating U. prolifera in green tides, we investigated the formation of sporangia in disks of different diameters excised from U. prolifera, changes of the photosynthetic properties of cells during sporangia formation, and development of spores. The results suggested that disks less than 1.00 mm in diameter were optimal for the formation of sporangia, but there was a small amount of spore release in these. The highest percentage of area of spore release occurred in disks that were 2.50 mm in diameter. In contrast, sporangia were formed only at the cut edges of larger disks (3.00 mm, 3.50 mm, and 4.00 mm in diameter). Additionally, the majority of spores liberated from the disks appeared vigorous and developed successfully into new individuals. These results implied that fragments of the appropriate size from the U. prolifera thalli broken by a variety of factors via producing spores gave rise to the rapid proliferation of the seaweed under field conditions, which may be one of the most important factors to the rapid accumulation of the vast biomass of U. prolifera in the green tide that occurred in Qingdao, 2008.

A series of sulfates A2Bi2(SO4)2Cl4 (A = NH4, K, Rb) were synthesized, achieving a subtle balance of a large SHG effect and sufficient birefringence.