An explicit total Lagrangian Fragile Points Method for finite deformation of hyperelastic materials

This research explored a novel explicit total Lagrangian Fragile Points Method (FPM) for finite deformation of hyperelastic materials. In contrast to mesh-based methods, where mesh distortion may pose numerical challenges, meshless methods are more suitable for large deformation modelling since they use enriched shape functions for the approximation of displacements. However, this comes at the expense of extra computational overhead and higher-order quadrature is required to obtain accurate results. In this work, the novel meshless method FPM was used to derive an explicit total Lagrangian algorithm for finite deformation. FPM uses simple one-point integration for exact integration of the Galerkin weak form since it employs simple discontinuous polynomials as trial and test functions, leading to accurate results even with single-point quadrature. The proposed method was evaluated by comparing it with FEM in several case studies considering both the extension and compression of a hyperelastic material. It was demonstrated that FPM maintained good accuracy even for large deformations where FEM failed to converge

Intracellular consequences of SOS1 deficiency during salt stress

A mutation of AtSOS1 (Salt Overly Sensitive 1), a plasma membrane Na+/H+-antiporter in Arabidopsis thaliana, leads to a salt-sensitive phenotype accompanied by the death of root cells under salt stress. Intracellular events and changes in gene expression were compared during a non-lethal salt stress between the wild type and a representative SOS1 mutant, atsos1-1, by confocal microscopy using ion-specific fluorophores and by quantitative RT-PCR. In addition to the higher accumulation of sodium ions, atsos1-1 showed inhibition of endocytosis, abnormalities in vacuolar shape and function, and changes in intracellular pH compared to the wild type in root tip cells under stress. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed a dramatically faster and higher induction of root-specific Ca2+ transporters, including several CAXs and CNGCs, and the drastic down-regulation of genes involved in pH-homeostasis and membrane potential maintenance. Differential regulation of genes for functions in intracellular protein trafficking in atsos1-1 was also observed. The results suggested roles of the SOS1 protein, in addition to its function as a Na+/H+ antiporter, whose disruption affected membrane traffic and vacuolar functions possibly by controlling pH homeostasis in root cells

Super-Resolution Mapping of Photogenerated Electron and Hole Separation in Single Metal−Semiconductor Nanocatalysts

Metal-semiconductor heterostructures are promising visible light photocatalysts for many chemical reactions. Here, we use high-resolution superlocalization imaging to reveal the nature and photocatalytic properties of the surface reactive sites on single Au-CdS hybrid nanocatalysts. We experimentally reveal two distinct, incident energy-dependent charge separation mechanisms that result in completely opposite photogenerated reactive sites (e- and h+) and divergent energy flows on the hybrid nanocatalysts. We find that plasmon-induced hot electrons in Au are injected into the conduction band of the CdS semiconductor nanorod. The specifically designed Au-tipped CdS heterostructures with a unique geometry (two Au nanoparticles at both ends of each CdS nanorod) provide more convincing high-resolution single-turnover mapping results and clearly prove the two charge separation mechanisms. Engineering the direction of energy flow at the nanoscale can provide an efficient way to overcome important challenges in photocatalysis, such as controlling catalytic activity and selectivity. These results bear enormous potential impact on the development of better visible light photocatalysts for solar-to-chemical energy conversion

Harvesting electrical energy using plasmon-enhanced light pressure in a platinum cut cone

We have designed a method of harvesting electrical energy using plasmon-enhanced light pressure. A device was fabricated as a cut cone structure that optimizes light collection so that the weak incident light pressure can be sufficiently enhanced inside the cut cone to generate electrical energy. An increase in the device's current output is a strong indication that the pressure of incident light has been enhanced by the surface plasmons on a platinum layer inside the cut cone. The electrical energy harvested in a few minutes by irradiating pulsed laser light on a single micro device was possible to illuminate a blue LED

Dynamical Properties of Postural Control in Obese Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Postural control is a key aspect in preventing falls. The aim of this study was to determine if obesity affected balance in community-dwelling older adults and serve as an indicator of fall risk. The participants were randomly assigned to receive a comprehensive geriatric assessment followed by a longitudinal assessment of their fall history. The standing postural balance was measured for 98 participants with a Body Mass Index (BMI) ranging from 18 to 63 kg/m2, using a force plate and an inertial measurement unit affixed at the sternum. Participants’ fall history was recorded over 2 years and participants with at least one fall in the prior year were classified as fallers. The results suggest that body weight/BMI is an additional risk factor for falling in elderly persons and may be an important marker for fall risk. The linear variables of postural analysis suggest that the obese fallers have significantly higher sway area and sway ranges, along with higher root mean square and standard deviation of time series. Additionally, it was found that obese fallers have lower complexity of anterior-posterior center of pressure time series. Future studies should examine more closely the combined effect of aging and obesity on dynamic balance

Dynamical Properties of Postural Control in Obese Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Postural control is a key aspect in preventing falls. The aim of this study was to determine if obesity affected balance in community-dwelling older adults and serve as an indicator of fall risk. The participants were randomly assigned to receive a comprehensive geriatric assessment followed by a longitudinal assessment of their fall history. The standing postural balance was measured for 98 participants with a Body Mass Index (BMI) ranging from 18 to 63 kg/m2, using a force plate and an inertial measurement unit affixed at the sternum. Participants€™ fall history was recorded over 2 years and participants with at least one fall in the prior year were classified as fallers. The results suggest that body weight/BMI is an additional risk factor for falling in elderly persons and may be an important marker for fall risk. The linear variables of postural analysis suggest that the obese fallers have significantly higher sway area and sway ranges, along with higher root mean square and standard deviation of time series. Additionally, it was found that obese fallers have lower complexity of anterior-posterior center of pressure time series. Future studies should examine more closely the combined effect of aging and obesity on dynamic balance

Piezoelectric energy harvesting using solar radiation pressure enhanced by surface plasmons at visible to near-infrared wavelengths

A light-pressure electric generator (LPEG) device, which harvests piezoelectric energy using solar radiation enhanced by surface plasmons (SPs), is demonstrated. The design of the device is motivated by the need to drastically increase the power output of existing piezoelectric devices based on SP resonance. The solar radiation pressure can be used as an energy source by employing an indium tin oxide (ITO)/Ag double layer to excite the SPs in the near-infrared (NIR) and visible light regions. The LPEG with the ITO layer generates an open-circuit voltage of 295 mV, a short-circuit current of 3.78 μA, and a power of 532.3 μW cm−2 under a solar simulator. The power of the LPEG device incorporating the ITO layer increased by 38% compared to the device without the ITO layer. The effect of the ITO layer on the electrical output of the LPEG was analyzed in detail by measuring the electrical output when visible and NIR lights are incident on the device using optical bandpass filters. In addition, finite-difference time-domain simulation confirmed that the pressure of the incident light can be further amplified by the ITO/Ag double layer. Finally, the energy harvested from the LPEG was stored in capacitors to successfully illuminate red light-emitting diodes

Scale Drop Disease Virus (SDDV) and Lates calcarifer Herpes Virus (LCHV) coinfection downregulate immune-relevant pathways and cause splenic and kidney necrosis in barramundi under commercial farming conditions

Marine farming of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) in Southeast Asia is currently severely affected by viral diseases. To better understand the biological implications and gene expression response of barramundi in commercial farming conditions during a disease outbreak, the presence of pathogens, comparative RNAseq, and histopathology targeting multiple organs of clinically “sick” and “healthy” juveniles were investigated. Coinfection of scale drop disease virus (SDDV) and L. calcarifer herpes virus (LCHV) were detected in all sampled fish, with higher SDDV viral loads in sick than in healthy fish. Histopathology showed that livers in sick fish often had moderate to severe abnormal fat accumulation (hepatic lipidosis), whereas the predominant pathology in the kidneys shows moderate to severe inflammation and glomerular necrosis. The spleen was the most severely affected organ, with sick fish presenting severe multifocal and coalescing necrosis. Principal component analysis (PC1 and PC2) explained 70.3% of the observed variance and strongly associated the above histopathological findings with SDDV loads and with the sick phenotypes, supporting a primary diagnosis of the fish being impacted by scale drop disease (SDD). Extracted RNA from kidney and spleen of the sick fish were also severely degraded likely due to severe inflammation and tissue necrosis, indicating failure of these organs in advanced stages of SDD. RNAseq of sick vs. healthy barramundi identified 2,810 and 556 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the liver and muscle, respectively. Eleven significantly enriched pathways (e.g., phagosome, cytokine-cytokine-receptor interaction, ECM-receptor interaction, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, calcium signaling, MAPK, CAMs, etc.) and gene families (e.g., tool-like receptor, TNF, lectin, complement, interleukin, chemokine, MHC, B and T cells, CD molecules, etc.) relevant to homeostasis and innate and adaptive immunity were mostly downregulated in sick fish. These DEGs and pathways, also previously identified in L. calcarifer as general immune responses to other pathogens and environmental stressors, suggest a failure of the clinically sick fish to cope and overcome the systemic inflammatory responses and tissue degeneration caused by SDD

Turbocharged molecular discovery of OLED emitters: from high-throughput quantum simulation to highly efficient TADF devices

Discovering new OLED emitters requires many experiments to synthesize candidates and test performance in devices. Large scale computer simulation can greatly speed this search process but the problem remains challenging enough that brute force application of massive computing power is not enough to successfully identify novel structures. We report a successful High Throughput Virtual Screening study that leveraged a range of methods to optimize the search process. The generation of candidate structures was constrained to contain combinatorial explosion. Simulations were tuned to the specific problem and calibrated with experimental results. Experimentalists and theorists actively collaborated such that experimental feedback was regularly utilized to update and shape the computational search. Supervised machine learning methods prioritized candidate structures prior to quantum chemistry simulation to prevent wasting compute on likely poor performers. With this combination of techniques, each multiplying the strength of the search, this effort managed to navigate an area of molecular space and identify hundreds of promising OLED candidate structures. An experimentally validated selection of this set shows emitters with external quantum efficiencies as high as 22%