Magnetic influence on the frequency of the soft-phonon mode in the incipient ferroelectric EuTiO3

The dielectric constant of the incipient ferroelectric EuTiO$_3$ exhibits a sharp decrease at about 5.5K, at which temperature antiferromagnetic ordering of the Eu spins simultaneously appears, indicating coupling between the magnetism and dielectric properties. This may be attributed to the modification of the soft-phonon mode, $T_{1\mu}$, which is the main contribution to the large dielectric constant, by the Eu spins(7$\mu_B$ per Eu). By adding the coupling term between the magnetic and electrical subsystems as $-g\sum\limits_l {\sum\limits_{< {i,j}} {q_l^2}} \overrightarrow {S_i} \cdot \overrightarrow {S_j}$ we show that the variation of the frequency of soft-phonon mode depends on the spin correlation between the nearest neighbors Eu spins and is substantially changed under a magnetic field.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Epidemiological surveys of camel trypanosomosis in Al-jouf, Saudi Arabia based on PCR and ELISA

Trypanosomosis due to Trypanosoma evansi (surra) is a major enzootic disease of the dromedary camel. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of camel trypanosomosis in the northern part of Saudi Arabia with different methods of diagnosis (ELISA, PCR) and to compare the results to whose obtained previously with Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosomiasis (CATT/T.evansi). A total of 195 blood samples and 118 serum samples were used for molecular and serological investigation respectively. After analyses, 25% (49/195) and 3% (4/118) samples were positive using PCR and ELISA respectively. The variability of trypanosomosis was highly significant to the factor moving, location, breed and clinical signs with PCR. The discrepancy between PCR, CATT test and ELISA is likely due to antibodies degradation on spotted papers maintained several weeks at ambient temperature. This is the first molecular diagnosis report which gives a picture of camel trypanosomosis in Al-jouf, Saudi Arabia

Role of local disorder in the dielectric response of BaTaO_2N

Short-range structural disorder of the high-κ dielectric BaTaO_2N is revealed by the analysis of the extended x-ray-absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy measured at the Ta L_III edge. Although previous neutron, x-ray, and electron diffraction studies have shown BaTaO_2N to crystallize in a centrosymmetric, cubic structure, these EXAFS spectra show a wide distribution of first shell Ta-(O,N) distances with further implications to nonuniformity of the existing octahedral distortions. A distortion model based upon a density functional theory energy minimization for a 4×4×4 supercell of BaTaO_2N was used to successfully interpret these EXAFS data. We find that structural distortions with very short correlation lengths exist in this material and that these distortions are consistent with the large dielectric permitivity of BaTaO_2N

Designer lipid-like peptides

A crucial bottleneck in membrane protein studies, particularly G-protein coupled receptors, is the notorious difficulty of finding an optimal detergent that can solubilize them and maintain their stability and function. Here we report rapid production of 12 unique mammalian olfactory receptors using short designer lipid-like peptides as detergents. The peptides were able to solubilize and stabilize each receptor. Circular dichroism showed that the purified olfactory receptors had alpha-helical secondary structures. Microscale thermophoresis suggested that the receptors were functional and bound their odorants. Blot intensity measurements indicated that milligram quantities of each olfactory receptor could be produced with at least one peptide detergent. The peptide detergents' capability was comparable to that of the detergent Brij-35. The ability of 10 peptide detergents to functionally solubilize 12 olfactory receptors demonstrates their usefulness as a new class of detergents for olfactory receptors, and possibly other G-protein coupled receptors and membrane proteins

Fast pyrolysis bio-oil production in an entrained flow reactor pilot

Bio-oil produced from biomass fast pyrolysis could constitute an alternative to fossil liquid fuels, especially to be combusted for local district heating. So far, only few studies have dealt with bio-oil production by biomass fast pyrolysis in an entrained flow reactor [1], yet it could constitute an alternative to the better-known fluidised bed pyrolysis process. In the context of the BOIL project with the CCIAG Company (Grenoble district heating), a new pilot based on an entrained flow reactor concept has been designed [2]. The pilot design has been carried out on the basis of woody biomass fast pyrolysis experiments and modeling performed in a drop tube reactor as a first step laboratory-scale study, and also CFD modeling [2-3]. The facility is composed of a biomass injection system with a hopper and a feeding screw, an electrically heated pyrolysis reactor, a cyclone to separate gas and char, 3 heat exchangers to cool the gas (at 30°C, 0°C and 0°C respectively) and condense bio-oil, and a post-combustion unit to burn the incondensable species. Gas temperature is maintained at 350°C from the reactor outlet to the entrance of the first heat exchanger in order to avoid bio-oil condensation. Several conditions were tested in 14 runs: 3 different biomass feedstocks, varying biomass feeding rates from 2 to 9 kg/h and two reactor temperatures 500°C and 550°C. 85 kg of bio-oil has been produced for combustion tests. Recovered bio-oil mass yield is on average 50%, its LHV is about 15 MJ/kg, its water content 26%w and its pH 2.15. We identified three main difficulties during the runs: about 15% of the bio-oil go through the heat exchanger, some char particles go through the cyclone which causes regular plugging of the first heat exchanger. Detailed analyses of the bio-oil produced have been done and the chemical and physical bio-oil characteristics have been compared to the European Standard recommendations [4]. With a regularly cleaning of the first heat exchanger, we successfully produce bio-oil with physical and chemical properties in agreement with the European Standard recommendations. Combustion tests of the bio-oil produced have been carried on by the CIRAD. They succeeded in obtaining a stable flame (without the use of a pilot flame) in a 50 kW burner and a 250 kW combustion chamber. However the physical and chemical characteristics of the bio-oil involve the use of specific pump and pulverization system adapted. In perspective for future projects, it would be interesting to perform pilot modifications in order to increase bio-oil yield and to minimize heat exchanger cleaning, and to test other resources like agricultural biomass or solid recovered fuels. Bibliography 1. J.A. Knight, C.W. Gorton, R.J. Kovac, Biomass 6, pp. 69-76, 1984. 2. Fast pyrolysis reactor for organic biomass materials with against flow injection of hot gases - US 20170166818 A1 3. Guizani, S.Valin, J.Billlaud, M.Peyrot, S.Salvador, Fuel, 2017, 207, pp.71-84. 4. C.Guizani, S.Valin, M.Peyrot, G.Ratel S.Salvador, Woody biomass fast pyrolysis in a drop tube reactor - Pyro2016 conference 5. Fast pyrolysis bio-oils for industrial boilers – Requirements and test methods – EN 1690

Experimental evidence of thermal fluctuations on the X-ray absorption near-edge structure at the aluminum K-edge

After a review of temperature-dependent experimental x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and related theoretical developments, we present the Al K-edge XANES spectra of corundum and beryl for temperature ranging from 300K to 930K. These experimental results provide a first evidence of the role of thermal fluctuation in XANES at the Al K-edge especially in the pre-edge region. The study is carried out by polarized XANES measurements of single crystals. For any orientation of the sample with respect to the x-ray beam, the pre-edge peak grows and shifts to lower energy with temperature. In addition temperature induces modifications in the position and intensities of the main XANES features. First-principles DFT calculations are performed for both compounds. They show that the pre-edge peak originates from forbidden 1s to 3s transitions induced by vibrations. Three existing theoretical models are used to take vibrations into account in the absorption cross section calculations: i) an average of the XANES spectra over the thermal displacements of the absorbing atom around its equilibrium position, ii) a method based on the crude Born-Oppenheimer approximation where only the initial state is averaged over thermal displacements, iii) a convolution of the spectra obtained for the atoms at the equilibrium positions with an approximate phonon spectral function. The theoretical spectra so obtained permit to qualitatively understand the origin of the spectral modifications induced by temperature. However the correct treatment of thermal fluctuation in XANES spectroscopy requires more sophisticated theoretical tools