Synthesis of Al doped ZnO nanoparticles by aqueous coprecipitation

International audienceAl-doped ZnO particles were obtained by a simple route: soda addition in aqueous cationic solution. The effects of temperature, hydrolysis duration, reagent concentration and time were investigated. A non-topotactic reaction mechanism, involving firstly the precipitation of various hydroxide compounds depending on the route (low or high pH), followed by the dissolution-recrystallization of the hydroxide species into ZnO was demonstrated. The Al concentration in the final ZnO nanopowders did not exceed 0.3 at.% which correspond to the solubility limit of Al in ZnO. The different experimental conditions allow the morphology of ZnO particles to be controlled from isotropic nanoparticles of several tens of nanometers, platelets of several hundreds of nanometers or agglomerates of needle like particles

Is It Because I Can or Because of Who I Am? : The moderating effect of entrepreneurs’ social identity on entrepreneurial self-efficacys' - entrepreneurial intention relationship

The main purpose of this paper is to examine whether potential entrepreneurs are mainly driven by entrepreneurial skills or by a social identity to engage in entrepreneurial behaviors. Using a sample of 696 Colombian students from the data of Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students‘Survey (GUESSS), findings confirm Darwinian and Missionary social identity influence entrepreneurial intention positively. Furthermore, we find that the more a person identifies with a Darwinian social identity, the less entrepreneurial intention depends on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, while the contrary happens for missionary social identity. This study provides empirical evidence that competence, and identification influence the entrepreneurial process. Additionally, this study provides an explanation in a new setting, about why some individuals with strong entrepreneurial self-efficacy do not exhibit strong entrepreneurial intention

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

Genomic Relationships, Novel Loci, and Pleiotropic Mechanisms across Eight Psychiatric Disorders

Genetic influences on psychiatric disorders transcend diagnostic boundaries, suggesting substantial pleiotropy of contributing loci. However, the nature and mechanisms of these pleiotropic effects remain unclear. We performed analyses of 232,964 cases and 494,162 controls from genome-wide studies of anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and Tourette syndrome. Genetic correlation analyses revealed a meaningful structure within the eight disorders, identifying three groups of inter-related disorders. Meta-analysis across these eight disorders detected 109 loci associated with at least two psychiatric disorders, including 23 loci with pleiotropic effects on four or more disorders and 11 loci with antagonistic effects on multiple disorders. The pleiotropic loci are located within genes that show heightened expression in the brain throughout the lifespan, beginning prenatally in the second trimester, and play prominent roles in neurodevelopmental processes. These findings have important implications for psychiatric nosology, drug development, and risk prediction.Peer reviewe

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Influence de la microstructure et de la texture sur les propriétés supraconductrices de céramiques (RE,Y)Ba2Cu3O7-d texturées. Synthèse et caractérisation

This work has been devoted to the study of the influence of several microstructural features on the superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7-d ceramics. The aim is to increase the critical current densities of such materials. The first part of this work is related to the study of one peculiar microstructural feature : the twin system. The techniques suitable to characterise this twin system in YBa2Cu3O7-d ceramics have been reviewed. Optical microscopy and rocking curves have been found unsuitable in the case of YBa2Cu3O7-d ceramics. New techniques have been proposed to study qualitatively ((200) and (020) pole figures) and quantitatively (Secondary Electrons SEM images) the twin structure. Detwinning with a thermomechanical treatment has been tested but failed to produced untwinned samples. A second part deals with the influence of dopants on the superconducting properties. Several dopants such as Bi2O3, Gd2O3, Dy2O3, or Tb(III/IV)O, have allowed to obtain increased critical current densities, up to 95 kA.cm-2 under self-field, at 77 K, for samples doped with Bi2O3. Other dopants such as calcium have drastically reduced both Tc and Jc. Another kind of dopants, as BaF2, did not change microstructures nor superconducting properties of the doped samples. Finally, the YBa2Cu3O7-d samples have been found to be very fragile to water ageing. A short immersion in water (1day) has been shown to drastically reduce the critical current density. A model of substitution of H3O+ or H+ for Ba2+ have been proposed to explain the water action.Ce travail a été consacré à l'étude de l'influence de différents paramètres microstructuraux sur les propriétés supraconductrices de céramiques d'YBa2Cu3O7-d, texturées par TSMTG, afin d'essayer d'obtenir les meilleures densités de courant critique possibles en vue d'applications. La première partie traite de l'étude d'un paramètre microstructural particulier observé dans les composés REBa2Cu3O7-d : les macles. Une revue des méthodes de caractérisation utilisables a tout d'abord été réalisée, rejetant l'observation par microscopie optique en lumière polarisée et l'enregistrement de « rocking curves ». De nouvelles méthodes ont été proposées pour une analyse qualitative (figures des pôles (200) et (020)) et quantitative (images obtenues à partir des électrons secondaires en microscopie électronique à balayage). Des essais de démaclage de céramiques texturées par traitements thermomécaniques n'ont pas permis d'obtenir d'échantillons démaclés. Une seconde partie traite de l'influence d'ajouts de dopants sur les propriétés supraconductrices. Certains dopants, comme Bi2O3, Gd2O3, Dy2O3, ou Tb(III/IV)O, ont permis d'améliorer nettement les densités de courant critique jusqu'à des valeurs de 95 kA.cm-2 sous champ propre, à 77 K, pour Bi2O3. D'autres dopants se sont avérés diminuer nettement les propriétés supraconductrices comme le calcium. Enfin, un troisième groupe de dopants (par exemple BaF2), ne semble pas changer les microstructures ou les propriétés supraconductrices des céramiques d'YBa2Cu3O7-d. Enfin, la grande fragilité des échantillons de céramiques d'YBa2Cu3O7-d soumis à l'action de l'eau a été mise en évidence dans le cadre d'études sur le stockage de ces matériaux. Un modèle de l'action de l'eau sur les échantillons d'Y123 par un échange Ba2+/« espèce protonée » a été proposé

Influence de la microstructure et de la texture sur les propriétés supraconductrices de céramiques (RE,Y)Ba2Cu3O7-d texturées. Synthèse et caractérisation

This work has been devoted to the study of the influence of several microstructural features on the superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7-d ceramics. The aim is to increase the critical current densities of such materials. The first part of this work is related to the study of one peculiar microstructural feature : the twin system. The techniques suitable to characterise this twin system in YBa2Cu3O7-d ceramics have been reviewed. Optical microscopy and rocking curves have been found unsuitable in the case of YBa2Cu3O7-d ceramics. New techniques have been proposed to study qualitatively ((200) and (020) pole figures) and quantitatively (Secondary Electrons SEM images) the twin structure. Detwinning with a thermomechanical treatment has been tested but failed to produced untwinned samples. A second part deals with the influence of dopants on the superconducting properties. Several dopants such as Bi2O3, Gd2O3, Dy2O3, or Tb(III/IV)O, have allowed to obtain increased critical current densities, up to 95 kA.cm-2 under self-field, at 77 K, for samples doped with Bi2O3. Other dopants such as calcium have drastically reduced both Tc and Jc. Another kind of dopants, as BaF2, did not change microstructures nor superconducting properties of the doped samples. Finally, the YBa2Cu3O7-d samples have been found to be very fragile to water ageing. A short immersion in water (1day) has been shown to drastically reduce the critical current density. A model of substitution of H3O+ or H+ for Ba2+ have been proposed to explain the water action.Ce travail a été consacré à l'étude de l'influence de différents paramètres microstructuraux sur les propriétés supraconductrices de céramiques d'YBa2Cu3O7-d, texturées par TSMTG, afin d'essayer d'obtenir les meilleures densités de courant critique possibles en vue d'applications. La première partie traite de l'étude d'un paramètre microstructural particulier observé dans les composés REBa2Cu3O7-d : les macles. Une revue des méthodes de caractérisation utilisables a tout d'abord été réalisée, rejetant l'observation par microscopie optique en lumière polarisée et l'enregistrement de « rocking curves ». De nouvelles méthodes ont été proposées pour une analyse qualitative (figures des pôles (200) et (020)) et quantitative (images obtenues à partir des électrons secondaires en microscopie électronique à balayage). Des essais de démaclage de céramiques texturées par traitements thermomécaniques n'ont pas permis d'obtenir d'échantillons démaclés. Une seconde partie traite de l'influence d'ajouts de dopants sur les propriétés supraconductrices. Certains dopants, comme Bi2O3, Gd2O3, Dy2O3, ou Tb(III/IV)O, ont permis d'améliorer nettement les densités de courant critique jusqu'à des valeurs de 95 kA.cm-2 sous champ propre, à 77 K, pour Bi2O3. D'autres dopants se sont avérés diminuer nettement les propriétés supraconductrices comme le calcium. Enfin, un troisième groupe de dopants (par exemple BaF2), ne semble pas changer les microstructures ou les propriétés supraconductrices des céramiques d'YBa2Cu3O7-d. Enfin, la grande fragilité des échantillons de céramiques d'YBa2Cu3O7-d soumis à l'action de l'eau a été mise en évidence dans le cadre d'études sur le stockage de ces matériaux. Un modèle de l'action de l'eau sur les échantillons d'Y123 par un échange Ba2+/« espèce protonée » a été proposé