R&D on an Ultra-Thin Composite Membrane for High-Temperature Operation in PEMFC. Final Report

FuelCell Energy developed a novel high-temperature proton exchange membrane for PEM fuel cells for building applications. The laboratory PEM fuel cell successfully operated at 100-400{supdegree}C and low relative humidity to improve CO tolerance, mitigate water and thermal management challenges, and reduce membrane cost. The developed high-temperature membrane has successfully completed 500h 120C endurance testing

Internal transport barriers in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

In the National Spherical Torus Experiment [M. Ono , Nucl. Fusion 41, 1435 (2001)], internal transport barriers (ITBs) are observed in reversed (negative) shear discharges where diffusivities for electron and ion thermal channels and momentum are reduced. While neutral beam heating can produce ITBs in both electron and ion channels, high harmonic fast wave heating can also produce electron ITBs (e-ITBs) under reversed magnetic shear conditions without momentum input. Interestingly, the location of the e-ITB does not necessarily match that of the ion ITB (i-ITB). The e-ITB location correlates best with the magnetic shear minima location determined by motional Stark effect constrained equilibria, whereas the i-ITB location better correlates with the location of maximum ExB shearing rate. Measured electron temperature gradients in the e-ITB can exceed critical gradients for the onset of electron thermal gradient microinstabilities calculated by linear gyrokinetic codes. A high-k microwave scattering diagnostic shows locally reduced density fluctuations at wave numbers characteristic of electron turbulence for discharges with strongly negative magnetic shear versus weakly negative or positive magnetic shear. Reductions in fluctuation amplitude are found to be correlated with the local value of magnetic shear. These results are consistent with nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations predicting a reduction in electron turbulence under negative magnetic shear conditions despite exceeding critical gradients.X1128sciescopu

Excitonic BCS-BEC crossover at finite temperature: Effects of repulsion and electron-hole mass difference

The BCS to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover of electron-hole (e-h) pairs in optically excited semiconductors is studied using the two-band Hubbard model with both repulsive and attractive interactions. Applying the self-consistent t-matrix approximation combined with a local approximation, we examine the properties of a normal phase and an excitonic instability. The transition temperature from the normal phase to an e-h pair condensed one is studied to clarify the crossover from an e-h BCS-like state to an excitonic Bose-Einstein condensation, which takes place on increasing the e-h attraction strength. To investigate effects of the repulsive interaction and the e-h mass difference, we calculate the transition temperature for various parameters of the interaction strengths, the e-h particle density, and the mass difference. While the transition temperature in the e-h BCS regime is sufficiently suppressed by the repulsive interaction, that of the excitonic BEC is largely insensitive to it. We also show quantitatively that in the whole regime the mass difference leads to large suppression of the transition temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Mapping suitable great ape habitat in and around the Lobéké National Park, South-East Cameroon

Abstract As a result of extensive data collection efforts over the last 20?30 years, there is quite a good understanding of the large-scale geographic distribution and range limits of African great apes. However, as human activities increasingly fragment great ape spatial distribution, a better understanding of what constitutes suitable great ape habitat is needed to inform conservation and resource extraction management. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) inhabit the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding forest management units (FMUs) in South-East Cameroon. Both park and neighboring forestry concessions require reliable evidence on key factors driving great ape distribution for their management plans, yet this information is largely missing and incomplete. This study aimed at mapping great ape habitat suitability in the area and at identifying the most influential predictors among three predictor categories, including landscape predictors (dense forest, swampy forest, distance to water bodies, and topography), human disturbance predictors (hunting, deforestation, distance to roads, and population density), and bioclimatic predictor (annual precipitation). We found that about 63% of highly to moderately suitable chimpanzee habitat occurred within the Lobéké National Park, while only 8.4% of similar habitat conditions occurred within FMUs. For gorillas, highly and moderately suitable habitats occurred within the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding FMUs (82.6% and 65.5%, respectively). Key determinants of suitable chimpanzee habitat were hunting pressure and dense forest, with species occurrence probability optimal at relatively lower hunting rates and at relatively high-dense forest areas. Key determinants of suitable gorilla habitat were hunting pressure, dense forests, swampy forests, and slope, with species occurrence probability optimal at relatively high-dense and swampy forest areas and at areas with mild slopes. Our findings show differential response of the two ape species to forestry activities in the study area, thus aligning with previous studies

Angle-resolved photoemission study of insulating and metallic Cu-O chains in PrBa2_2Cu3_3O7_7 and PrBa2_2Cu4_4O8_8

We compare the angle-resolved photoemission spectra of the hole-doped Cu-O chains in PrBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ (Pr123) and in PrBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$ (Pr124). While, in Pr123, a dispersive feature from the chain takes a band maximum at $k_b$ (momentum along the chain) $\sim$ $\pi/4$ and loses its spectral weight around the Fermi level, it reaches the Fermi level at $k_b$ $\sim$ $\pi/4$ in Pr124. Although the chains in Pr123 and Pr124 are approximately 1/4-filled, they show contrasting behaviors: While the chains in Pr123 have an instability to charge ordering, those in Pr124 avoid it and show an interesting spectral feature of a metallic coupled-chain system.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in PR

Sequential Logic Model Deciphers Dynamic Transcriptional Control of Gene Expressions

Cellular signaling involves a sequence of events from ligand binding to membrane receptors through transcription factors activation and the induction of mRNA expression. The transcriptional-regulatory system plays a pivotal role in the control of gene expression. A novel computational approach to the study of gene regulation circuits is presented here.Based on the concept of finite state machine, which provides a discrete view of gene regulation, a novel sequential logic model (SLM) is developed to decipher control mechanisms of dynamic transcriptional regulation of gene expressions. The SLM technique is also used to systematically analyze the dynamic function of transcriptional inputs, the dependency and cooperativity, such as synergy effect, among the binding sites with respect to when, how much and how fast the gene of interest is expressed. expression and additional activities of binding sites are required. Further analyses suggest detailed mechanism of R switch activity where indirect dependency occurs in between UI activity and R switch during specification to differentiation stage. is a promising step for further application of the proposed method

Density Gradient Stabilization of Electron Temperature Gradient Driven Turbulence in a Spherical Tokamak

In this letter we report the first clear experimental observation of density gradient stabilization of electron temperature gradient driven turbulence in a fusion plasma. It is observed that longer wavelength modes, k⊥ρs ≤10, are most stabilized by density gradient, and the stabilization is accompanied by about a factor of two decrease in the plasma effective thermal diffusivity

DNA topoisomerases participate in fragility of the oncogene RET

Fragile site breakage was previously shown to result in rearrangement of the RET oncogene, resembling the rearrangements found in thyroid cancer. Common fragile sites are specific regions of the genome with a high susceptibility to DNA breakage under conditions that partially inhibit DNA replication, and often coincide with genes deleted, amplified, or rearranged in cancer. While a substantial amount of work has been performed investigating DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint proteins vital for maintaining stability at fragile sites, little is known about the initial events leading to DNA breakage at these sites. The purpose of this study was to investigate these initial events through the detection of aphidicolin (APH)-induced DNA breakage within the RET oncogene, in which 144 APHinduced DNA breakpoints were mapped on the nucleotide level in human thyroid cells within intron 11 of RET, the breakpoint cluster region found in patients. These breakpoints were located at or near DNA topoisomerase I and/or II predicted cleavage sites, as well as at DNA secondary structural features recognized and preferentially cleaved by DNA topoisomerases I and II. Co-treatment of thyroid cells with APH and the topoisomerase catalytic inhibitors, betulinic acid and merbarone, significantly decreased APH-induced fragile site breakage within RET intron 11 and within the common fragile site FRA3B. These data demonstrate that DNA topoisomerases I and II are involved in initiating APH-induced common fragile site breakage at RET, and may engage the recognition of DNA secondary structures formed during perturbed DNA replication