Design of next-generation ceramic fuel cells and real-time characterization with synchrotron X-ray diffraction computed tomography

Ceramic fuel cells offer a clean and efficient means of producing electricity through a variety of fuels. However, miniaturization of cell dimensions for portable device application remains a challenge, as volumetric power densities generated by readily-available planar/tubular ceramic cells are limited. Here, we demonstrate a concept of ‘micro-monolithic’ ceramic cell design. The mechanical robustness and structural integrity of this design is thoroughly investigated with real-time, synchrotron X-ray diffraction computed tomography, suggesting excellent thermal cycling stability. The successful miniaturization results in an exceptional power density of 1.27 W cm−2 at 800 °C, which is among the highest reported. This holistic design incorporates both mechanical integrity and electrochemical performance, leading to mechanical property enhancement and representing an important step toward commercial development of portable ceramic devices with high volumetric power (>10 W cm−3), fast thermal cycling and marked mechanical reliability

Design of next-generation ceramic fuel cells and real-time characterization with synchrotron X-ray diffraction computed tomography

Ceramic fuel cells offer a clean and efficient means of producing electricity through a variety of fuels. However, miniaturization of cell dimensions for portable device application remains a challenge, as volumetric power densities generated by readily-available planar/tubular ceramic cells are limited. Here, we demonstrate a concept of ‘micro-monolithic’ ceramic cell design. The mechanical robustness and structural integrity of this design is thoroughly investigated with real-time, synchrotron X-ray diffraction computed tomography, suggesting excellent thermal cycling stability. The successful miniaturization results in an exceptional power density of 1.27 W cm−2 at 800 °C, which is among the highest reported. This holistic design incorporates both mechanical integrity and electrochemical performance, leading to mechanical property enhancement and representing an important step toward commercial development of portable ceramic devices with high volumetric power (>10 W cm−3), fast thermal cycling and marked mechanical reliability

Preexisting and de novo humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in humans

Zoonotic introduction of novel coronaviruses may encounter preexisting immunity in humans. Using diverse assays for antibodies recognizing SARS-CoV-2 proteins, we detect preexisting humoral immunity. SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S)-reactive antibodies were detectable by a flow cytometry-based method in SARS-CoV-2-uninfected individuals and were particularly prevalent in children and adolescents. They were predominantly of the IgG class and targeted the S2 subunit. By contrast, SARS-CoV-2 infection induced higher titers of SARS-CoV-2 S-reactive IgG antibodies, targeting both the S1 and S2 subunits, and concomitant IgM and IgA antibodies, lasting throughout the observation period. Notably, SARS-CoV-2-uninfected donor sera exhibited specific neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 S pseudotypes. Distinguishing preexisting and de novo immunity will be critical for our understanding of susceptibility to and the natural course of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Linkage Group Selection: Towards Identifying Genes Controlling Strain Specific Protective Immunity in Malaria

Protective immunity against blood infections of malaria is partly specific to the genotype, or strain, of the parasites. The target antigens of Strain Specific Protective Immunity are expected, therefore, to be antigenically and genetically distinct in different lines of parasite. Here we describe the use of a genetic approach, Linkage Group Selection, to locate the target(s) of Strain Specific Protective Immunity in the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi. In a previous such analysis using the progeny of a genetic cross between P. c. chabaudi lines AS-pyr1 and CB, a location on P. c. chabaudi chromosome 8 containing the gene for merozoite surface protein-1, a known candidate antigen for Strain Specific Protective Immunity, was strongly selected. P. c. chabaudi apical membrane antigen-1, another candidate for Strain Specific Protective Immunity, could not have been evaluated in this cross as AS-pyr1 and CB are identical within the cell surface domain of this protein. Here we use Linkage Group Selection analysis of Strain Specific Protective Immunity in a cross between P. c. chabaudi lines CB-pyr10 and AJ, in which merozoite surface protein-1 and apical membrane antigen-1 are both genetically distinct. In this analysis strain specific immune selection acted strongly on the region of P. c. chabaudi chromosome 8 encoding merozoite surface protein-1 and, less strongly, on the P. c. chabaudi chromosome 9 region encoding apical membrane antigen-1. The evidence from these two independent studies indicates that Strain Specific Protective Immunity in P. c. chabaudi in mice is mainly determined by a narrow region of the P. c. chabaudi genome containing the gene for the P. c. chabaudi merozoite surface protein-1 protein. Other regions, including that containing the gene for P. c. chabaudi apical membrane antigen-1, may be more weakly associated with Strain Specific Protective Immunity in these parasites

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40

Search for high-mass resonances decaying to dilepton final states in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for high-mass resonances decaying to an electron-positron pair or a muon-antimuon pair. The search is sensitive to heavy neutral Z′ gauge bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, Z * bosons, techni-mesons, Kaluza-Klein Z/γ bosons, and bosons predicted by Torsion models. Results are presented based on an analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb−1 in the e + e − channel and 5.0 fb−1 in the μ + μ −channel. A Z ′ boson with Standard Model-like couplings is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.22 TeV. A Randall-Sundrum graviton with coupling k/MPl=0.1 is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.16 TeV. Limits on the other models are also presented, including Technicolor and Minimal Z′ Models

Association of a germline copy number polymorphism of APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B with burden of putative APOBEC-dependent mutations in breast cancer.

The somatic mutations in a cancer genome are the aggregate outcome of one or more mutational processes operative through the lifetime of the individual with cancer. Each mutational process leaves a characteristic mutational signature determined by the mechanisms of DNA damage and repair that constitute it. A role was recently proposed for the APOBEC family of cytidine deaminases in generating particular genome-wide mutational signatures and a signature of localized hypermutation called kataegis. A germline copy number polymorphism involving APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B, which effectively deletes APOBEC3B, has been associated with modestly increased risk of breast cancer. Here we show that breast cancers in carriers of the deletion show more mutations of the putative APOBEC-dependent genome-wide signatures than cancers in non-carriers. The results suggest that the APOBEC3A-APOBEC3B germline deletion allele confers cancer susceptibility through increased activity of APOBEC-dependent mutational processes, although the mechanism by which this increase in activity occurs remains unknown.We would like to thank the Wellcome Trust for support (grant reference 098051). SN-Z is a Wellcome-Beit Prize Fellow and is supported through a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowship (grant reference WT100183MA). PJC is personally funded through a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Research Fellowship (grant reference WT088340MA). NB is an EHA fellow and is supported by a Lady Tata Memorial Trust award. The H.L. Holmes Award from the National Research Council Canada and an EMBO Fellowship supports AS