Characterization of Structural and Electronic Transitions During Reduction and Oxidation of Ru(acac)3 Flow Battery Electrolytes by using X‐ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Metal acetylacetonates possess several very attractive electrochemical properties; however, their cyclabilities fall short of targets for use in nonaqueous redox flow batteries. This paper describes structural and compositional changes during the reduction and oxidation of ruthenium(III) acetylacetonate [Ru(acac)3], a representative acetylacetonate. Voltammetry, bulk electrolysis, and in situ X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results are complemented by those from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The reduction of Ru(acac)3 in acetonitrile is highly reversible, producing a couple at −1.1 V versus Ag/Ag+. In situ XAS and DFT indicate the formation of [Ru(acac)3]− with Ru−O bonds lengthened relative to Ru(acac)3, nearly all of the charge localized on Ru, and no ligand shedding. The oxidation of Ru(acac)3 is quasireversible, with a couple at 0.7 V. The initial product is likely [Ru(acac)3]+; however, this species is short‐lived, converting to a product with a couple at −0.2 V, a structure that is nearly identical to that of Ru(acac)3 within 3 Å of Ru, and approximately 70 % of the charge extracted from Ru (balance from acetylacetone). This non‐innocence likely contributes to the instability of [Ru(acac)3]+. Taken together, the results suggest that the stabilities and cyclabilities of acetylacetonates are determined by the degree of charge transfer to/from the metal.Track changes: The structural and electronic changes of Ru(acac)3 during oxidation and reduction are characterized using bulk electrolysis and in situ X‐ray absorption spectroscopy. Reduction is found to be reversible with minimal structural changes, and the electrons being stored entirely on the ruthenium. Oxidation results in a rapid side reaction as a result of electrons extracted from the ligand.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134821/1/celc201600360-sup-0001-misc_information.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134821/2/celc201600360_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134821/3/celc201600360.pd

Data Publication with the Structural Biology Data Grid Supports Live Analysis

Access to experimental X-ray diffraction image data is fundamental for validation and reproduction of macromolecular models and indispensable for development of structural biology processing methods. Here, we established a diffraction data publication and dissemination system, Structural Biology Data Grid (SBDG; data.sbgrid.org), to preserve primary experimental data sets that support scientific publications. Data sets are accessible to researchers through a community driven data grid, which facilitates global data access. Our analysis of a pilot collection of crystallographic data sets demonstrates that the information archived by SBDG is sufficient to reprocess data to statistics that meet or exceed the quality of the original published structures. SBDG has extended its services to the entire community and is used to develop support for other types of biomedical data sets. It is anticipated that access to the experimental data sets will enhance the paradigm shift in the community towards a much more dynamic body of continuously improving data analysis

The Genomic Distribution and Function of Histone Variant HTZ-1 during C. elegans Embryogenesis

In all eukaryotes, histone variants are incorporated into a subset of nucleosomes to create functionally specialized regions of chromatin. One such variant, H2A.Z, replaces histone H2A and is required for development and viability in all animals tested to date. However, the function of H2A.Z in development remains unclear. Here, we use ChIP-chip, genetic mutation, RNAi, and immunofluorescence microscopy to interrogate the function of H2A.Z (HTZ-1) during embryogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans, a key model of metazoan development. We find that HTZ-1 is expressed in every cell of the developing embryo and is essential for normal development. The sites of HTZ-1 incorporation during embryogenesis reveal a genome wrought by developmental processes. HTZ-1 is incorporated upstream of 23% of C. elegans genes. While these genes tend to be required for development and occupied by RNA polymerase II, HTZ-1 incorporation does not specify a stereotypic transcription program. The data also provide evidence for unexpectedly widespread independent regulation of genes within operons during development; in 37% of operons, HTZ-1 is incorporated upstream of internally encoded genes. Fewer sites of HTZ-1 incorporation occur on the X chromosome relative to autosomes, which our data suggest is due to a paucity of developmentally important genes on X, rather than a direct function for HTZ-1 in dosage compensation. Our experiments indicate that HTZ-1 functions in establishing or maintaining an essential chromatin state at promoters regulated dynamically during C. elegans embryogenesis

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

Improved Low-Temperature CO Oxidation Performance of Pd Supported on La-Stabilized Alumina

Simulated diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) consisting of 2.5% Pd were prepared on γ-Al₂O₃ and lanthana-stabilized γ-Al₂O₃; it was found that the La-containing catalyst had higher CO conversion and lower onset temperature for CO oxidation (∼100 °C). Aberration-corrected STEM showed that the La–alumina support helped to stabilize Pd in smaller particles and clusters, increasing dispersion from 17 to 26%. The higher dispersion was responsible, in part, for the improved CO oxidation rate; at 140 °C, the turnover frequency (TOF) was improved from 0.0019 to 0.0095 s^–1 with the addition of La. This TOF increase appears to be tied to facile redox behavior of the Pd/La–alumina catalyst, which was evident in the results of in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and FTIR spectroscopy. In these experiments, both catalysts were calcined at 500 °C to form PdO and then reduced to Pd metal at 140 °C in the presence of CO. When the CO-covered catalyst was exposed to CO oxidation reaction conditions at 140 °C, the 2.5% Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst remained nearly fully reduced, and the surface coverage of CO did not change, indicating irreversible CO adsorption and very low reactivity toward oxygen. On the other hand, the more active 2.5% Pd/La–Al₂O₃ catalyst was more reactive toward oxygen, with a portion of the Pd becoming oxidized when the gas phase was switched from pure CO to the reaction mixture. There was a drop in surface coverage of CO when switching from pure CO to the reaction mixture on the Pd/La–alumina. The results suggest that the role of the La–alumina support is 2-fold, increasing the dispersion of Pd by forming small, stable Pd particles and allowing a portion of the Pd to exhibit facile redox behavior at low temperatures, making the Pd less susceptible to poisoning by CO. This work provides insights into factors that could lead to improved low-temperature CO oxidation reactivity in Pd-based automotive exhaust catalysts

International Governance of Autonomous Military Robots

New technologies have always been a critical component of military strategy and preparedness. One new technology on the not-too-distant technological horizon is lethal autonomous robotics, which would consist of robotic weapons capable of exerting lethal force without human control or intervention. There are a number of operational and tactical factors that create incentives for the development of such lethal systems as the next step in the current development, deployment and use of autonomous systems in military forces. Yet, such robotic systems would raise a number of potential operational, policy, ethical and legal issues. This article summarizes the current status and incentives for the development of lethal autonomous robots, discusses some of the issues that would be raised by such systems, and calls for a national and international dialogue on appropriate governance of such systems before they are deployed. The article reviews potential modes of governance, ranging from ethical principles implemented through modifications or refinements of national policies, to changes in the law of war and rules of engagement, to international treaties or agreements, or to a variety of other “soft law” governance mechanisms

Reactivity of Hydrogen on and in Nanostructured Molybdenum Nitride: Crotonaldehyde Hydrogenation

Early-transition-metal nitrides, including γ-Mo₂N, are active and selective for a variety of reactions, including the hydrogenation of organics (e.g., hydrodeoxygenation), CO (e.g., Fischer–Tropsch synthesis), and CO₂. In addition to adsorbing hydrogen onto the surface, some of these materials can incorporate hydrogen into subsurface, interstitial sites. Research described in this paper examined, experimentally and computationally, the nature of hydrogen on and in γ-Mo₂N, with a particular focus on characterizing the interactions of these hydrogens with crotonaldehyde. Hydrogen was added to γ-Mo₂N via exposure to gaseous hydrogen at elevated temperatures, forming γ-Mo₂N‑H_<i>x</i>, where 0.061< <i>x</i> < 0.082. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments indicate that γ-Mo₂N‑H_<i>x</i> has at least two distinct hydrogen binding sites and that these sites can be selectively populated. Inelastic neutron scattering and density functional theory calculations indicate the presence of surface nitrogen-bound (κ¹-NH_surf), surface Mo-bound (κ¹-MoH_surf), and interstitial Mo-bound (μ₆-Mo₆H_sub) hydrogens. Selectivities for the hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde, a model of species in biomass-derived liquids, correlated with the populations at these sites. Importantly, materials with high densities of interstitial, hydridic hydrogen were selective for CO hydrogenation (i.e., formation of crotyl alcohol). Collectively the results provide mechanistic insights regarding the desorption and reactivity of hydrogen on and in γ-Mo₂N. Hydrogen adsorption/desorption to γ-Mo₂N is heterolytic; in particular, H₂ adds across a Mo–N bond. Because the surface Mo–H site is energetically unfavorable in comparison to the interstitial site, hydrogen migrates into interstitial sites once the surface NH sites are saturated. Crotonaldehyde adsorption facilitates migration of this interstitial hydrogen back to the surface, forming surface Mo–H that is selective for hydrogenation of the CO bond. These insights will facilitate the design of γ-Mo₂N and other early-transition-metal nitrides for catalytic applications

A Dictyostelium SH2 adaptor protein required for correct DIF-1 signaling and pattern formation

Dictyostelium is the only non-metazoan with functionally analyzed SH2 domains and studying them can give insights into their evolution and wider potential. LrrB has a novel domain configuration with leucine-rich repeat, 14-3-3 and SH2 protein–protein interaction modules. It is required for the correct expression of several specific genes in early development and here we characterize its role in later, multicellular development. During development in the light, slug formation in LrrB null (lrrB-) mutants is delayed relative to the parental strain, and the slugs are highly defective in phototaxis and thermotaxis. In the dark the mutant arrests development as an elongated mound, in a hitherto unreported process we term dark stalling. The developmental and phototaxis defects are cell autonomous and marker analysis shows that the pstO prestalk sub-region of the slug is aberrant in the lrrB- mutant. Expression profiling, by parallel micro-array and deep RNA sequence analyses, reveals many other alterations in prestalk-specific gene expression in lrrB- slugs, including reduced expression of the ecmB gene and elevated expression of ampA. During culmination ampA is ectopically expressed in the stalk, there is no expression of ampA and ecmB in the lower cup and the mutant fruiting bodies lack a basal disc. The basal disc cup derives from the pstB cells and this population is greatly reduced in the lrrB- mutant. This anatomical feature is a hallmark of mutants aberrant in signaling by DIF-1, the polyketide that induces prestalk and stalk cell differentiation. In a DIF-1 induction assay the lrrB- mutant is profoundly defective in ecmB activation but only marginally defective in ecmA induction. Thus the mutation partially uncouples these two inductive events. In early development LrrB interacts physically and functionally with CldA, another SH2 domain containing protein. However, the CldA null mutant does not phenocopy the lrrB- in its aberrant multicellular development or phototaxis defect, implying that the early and late functions of LrrB are affected in different ways. These observations, coupled with its domain structure, suggest that LrrB is an SH2 adaptor protein active in diverse developmental signaling pathways