Recently, aluminum has been established as an earth-abundant alternative to gold and silver for plasmonic applications. Particularly, aluminum nanocrystals have shown to be promising plasmonic photocatalysts, especially when coupled with catalytic metals or oxides into "antenna-reactor" heterostructures. Here, a simple polyol synthesis is presented as a flexible route to produce aluminum nanocrystals decorated with eight varieties of size-tunable transition-metal nanoparticle islands, many of which have precedence as heterogeneous catalysts. High-resolution and three-dimensional structural analysis using scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron tomography shows that abundant nanoparticle island decoration in the catalytically relevant few-nanometer size range can be achieved, with many islands spaced closely to their neighbors. When coupled with the Al nanocrystal plasmonic antenna, these small decorating islands will experience increased light absorption and strong hot-spot generation. This combination makes transition-metal decorated aluminum nanocrystals a promising material platform to develop plasmonic photocatalysis, surface-enhanced spectroscopies, and quantum plasmonics.
Of the 6.7 million individuals in the United States who are visually impaired, 63% are unemployed, and 59% have not attained an education beyond a high school diploma. Providing a basic science education to children and adults with visual disabilities can be challenging, because most scientific learning relies on visual demonstrations. Creating resources to help teachers and service organizations better communicate science is thus critical both to the education of sighted students as well as to the continuing education of individuals with blindness or low vision (BLV). Here, 4 new scientific learning activities that last 5 to 15 minutes each are described. These simple exercises are designed to educate the general public, including both those who are sighted and those with BLV. The modules use tactile and auditory approaches to convey basic concepts including: the metric system, material strength and deformation, transparency, and the electromagnetic spectrum. These modules were tested on 20 adults with BLV during a science outreach event. Answers to learning assessment questions indicate that the modules conveyed information about the scientific concepts presented and increased an interest in science for most participants.
Through medicinal chemistry lead optimization studies focused on calculated properties and guided by X-ray crystallography and computational modeling, potent pan-JNK inhibitors were identified that showed submicromolar activity in a cellular assay. Using in vitro ADME profiling data, 9t was identified as possessing favorable permeability and a low potential for efflux, but it was rapidly cleared in liver microsomal incubations. In a mouse pharmacokinetics study, compound 9t was brain-penetrant after oral dosing, but exposure was limited by high plasma clearance. Brain exposure at a level expected to support modulation of a pharmacodynamic marker in mouse was achieved when the compound was coadministered with the pan-cytochrome P450 inhibitor 1-aminobenzotriazole.
Nanomechanical properties, specifically the reduced modulus and hardness of several intermetallic and solid solution phases are reported to assist the development of the U-10 wt.% Mo (U-10Mo) monolithic fuel system for research and test reactors. Findings from this study and reported values of mechanical properties provide data critical for understanding and predicting the structural behavior of the fuel system during fabrication and irradiation. The phases examined are products of interdiffusion and reaction between (1) the AA6061 cladding and the Zr diffusion barrier, namely (Al,Si) 3 Zr and Al 3 Zr, (2) the U-10Mo fuel and the Zr diffusion barrier, namely UZr 2 , Mo 2 Zr, and α-U, and (3) the U (or U-10Mo) and Mo, namely a mixture gradient of αand γ-phases. The UC inclusions observed within the fuel alloy were also examined. Only phases present in thick or continuous microstructure on cross-sectioned fuel plates and diffusion couples were investigated for reduced modulus and hardness. Concentrationdependence of room-temperature reduced modulus in U solid solution with 0 to 10 wt.% Mo was semi-quantitatively modeled based on mixture of αand γ-phases and solid solutioning within the γ-phase.
Three new compounds named leporizines A-C have been isolated from an Aspergillus sp. strain. Their structures were elucidated by analysis of 1D and 2D NMR spectra. Leporizines A and B were isolated during dereplication of hits from a high-throughput screening campaign for correctors of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), and leporizine C was isolated while preparing additional material for characterization of leporizines A and B. CFTR activity observed for leporizines A and B was highly correlated with cell toxicity and was determined to be a nonspecific effect. Leporizine C was not cytotoxic to cells and did not elicit a response in the CFTR assays. To the best of our knowledge, leporizines A-C represent the first examples of this unusual epithiodiketopiperazine skeleton.
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