Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are increasingly used in biomedical applications, hence understanding the processes that affect their biocompatibility and stability are of significant interest. In this study, we assessed the stability of peptide-capped AuNPs and used the embryonic zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a vertebrate system to investigate the impact of synthesis method and purity on their biocompatibility. Using glutathione (GSH) as a stabilizer, Au-GSH nanoparticles with identical core sizes were terminally modified with Tryptophan (Trp), Histidine (His) or Methionine (Met) amino acids and purified by either dialysis or ultracentrifugation. Au-GSH-(Trp)2 purified by dialysis elicited significant morbidity and mortality at 200 μg/mL, Au-GSH-(His)2 induced morbidity and mortality after purification by either method at 20 and 200 μg/mL, and Au-GSH-(Met)2 caused only sublethal responses at 200 μg/mL. Overall, toxicity was significantly reduced and ligand structure was improved by implementing ultracentrifugation purifications at several stages during the multi-step synthesis and surface modification of Au-GSH nanoparticles. When carefully synthesized at high purity, peptide-functionalized AuNPs showed high biocompatibility in biological systems.
This work examines the impact of artificial aging on tensile and flexural behavior of epoxy-nanoclay composites (ENCs) and glass fiber-epoxy-nanoclay composites (GFENCs) in the hygrothermal chamber. Epoxy-nanoclay composites made by a general-casting technique, and GFENCs are made by hand layup technique. The specimens are aged in the hygrothermal chamber for 180 days at 40°C with 60% RH. The results revealed that an increase in nanoclay and glass fiber weight percentage enhanced the mechanical behavior of GFENCs. The aging of the sample has a negative influence on the composite materials. But, the increase in nanoclay and glass fiber weight percentage has diminished the impact of aging on the mechanical behavior of composites. SEM micrographs revealed the reason for the failure and influence of aging conditions.
Quantum computing systems are developing rapidly as powerful solvers for a variety of real-world calculations. Traditionally, many of these same applications are solved using conventional high-performance computing (HPC) systems, which have progressed sharply through decades of hardware and software improvements.Here, we present a perspective on the motivations and challenges of pairing quantum computing systems with modern HPC infrastructure. We outline considerations and requirements for the use cases, macroarchitecture, microarchitecture, and programming models needed to integrate near-term quantum computers with HPC system, and we conclude with the expectation that such efforts are well within reach of current technology.
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