Molecular Dynamic Simulation of Diffusion in the Melt Pool in Laser Additive Alloying Process of Co-Ni-Cr-Mn-Fe High Entropy Alloy

High entropy alloys (HEAs) can be manufactured in many conventional ways, but it becomes difficult of fabricating heterogeneous materials and structures. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) method generally melts pure elemental powders or prefabricated alloy powders without alloying process. In-situ alloying in SLM, which is also called Laser Additive Alloying (LAA), using pure elemental powders becomes a promising method for creating HEA with heterogeneous structures. However, the effect of the diffusion of elements in the molten pool on the formation of HEA remains unclear. In this paper, the well-discussed Cantor HEA was studied in an in-situ alloying situation, where pure elemental powders (Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Fe) distributed on a powder bed were irradiated by laser and were subsequently allowed to cool back to room temperature. The diffusion of specific elements, with respect to their original clusters, was tracked via Mean Square Displacement (MSD) as well as the final composition of key locations. Our model was verified by showing a good agreement with the overall average diffusion rates of each element in the Cantor HEA qualitatively in other works from literature. Results initially showed that as the energy density increases, better diffusion was observed through a pixel overlay analysis about the mixing of different elements. The best-case scenario of diffusion from the pixel overlay map indicated a strong presence of 3 to 4 elements after the laser scanning. Given the conditions in the MD simulation, there was no apparent segregation of elements during the alloying process. In addition, we also conducted a simulation by implementing a 0.03 nm/ps laser scanning in a meander 2-track scan in order to completely melt the powder bed. After cooling and equilibration, Polyhedral Template Analysis was applied to analyze the crystal structure of the solidified powder bed in the presence of increasing components. When the powders of Cantor HEA were alloyed using LAA approach, all elements experienced a complex diffusion behavior, elements like Cr also experienced a relatively rapid diffusion compared to other elements. Despite this, Cr only diffused for a short period and diffused minimally during the in-situ alloying process. The analysis of element-specific behavior, such as diffusion, can provide a framework for the LAA production of HEA. This MD study provides a detailed analysis about the effect of diffusion on the formation of HEA system if in-situ alloying is adopted, the findings of this study can be used to guide the material design and the appropriate parameters for manufacturing process of new HEAs. This study can also be extended to analyze the effect of diffusion on the thermomechanical properties of HEAs

Solution Growth and Thermal Treatment of Crystals Lead to Two New Forms of 2-((2,6-Dimethylphenyl)Amino)Benzoic Acid

We report the discovery of two new forms (II and III) of a potential non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and thyroid drug, 2-((2,6-dimethylphenyl)amino)benzoic acid (HDMPA) through solution growth and thermal treatment of crystals. Form II has been discovered through crystal growth in a variety of solvents, and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopy. Form II converts into form III upon thermal treatment, as indicated by the phase behavior study of form II with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Form III has been characterized by IR, Raman and PXRD. Conformational flexibility of the molecule seems to lead to the polymorphism of the system. A conformational scan shows the conformational minima correspond to the conformers in the polymorphs. Lattice energy calculations show energies of −48.14 and −50.31 kcal mol−1 for forms I and II, providing information on the relative stability for each form. Hirshfeld analysis revealed that intermolecular interactions such as C⋯C, H⋯H, C⋯H, and H⋯O contribute to the stability of the crystal forms

Ndrg2 regulates vertebral specification in differentiating somites

AbstractIt is generally thought that vertebral patterning and identity are globally determined prior to somite formation. Relatively little is known about the regulators of vertebral specification after somite segmentation. Here, we demonstrated that Ndrg2, a tumor suppressor gene, was dynamically expressed in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) and at early stage of differentiating somites. Loss of Ndrg2 in mice resulted in vertebral homeotic transformations in thoracic/lumbar and lumbar/sacral transitional regions in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, the inactivation of Ndrg2 in osteoblasts or chondrocytes caused defects resembling those observed in Ndrg2−/− mice, with a lower penetrance. In addition, forced overexpression of Ndrg2 in osteoblasts or chondrocytes also conferred vertebral defects, which were distinct from those in Ndrg2−/− mice. These genetic analyses revealed that Ndrg2 modulates vertebral identity in segmented somites rather than in the PSM. At the molecular level, combinatory alterations of the amount of Hoxc8-11 gene transcripts were detected in the differentiating somites of Ndrg2−/− embryos, which may partially account for the vertebral defects in Ndrg2 mutants. Nevertheless, Bmp/Smad signaling activity was elevated in the differentiating somites of Ndrg2−/− embryos. Collectively, our findings unveiled Ndrg2 as a novel regulator of vertebral specification in differentiating somites

Evolution of Vertebrate Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 3 Channels: Opposite Temperature Sensitivity between Mammals and Western Clawed Frogs

Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels serve as temperature receptors in a wide variety of animals and must have played crucial roles in thermal adaptation. The TRP vanilloid (TRPV) subfamily contains several temperature receptors with different temperature sensitivities. The TRPV3 channel is known to be highly expressed in skin, where it is activated by warm temperatures and serves as a sensor to detect ambient temperatures near the body temperature of homeothermic animals such as mammals. Here we performed comprehensive comparative analyses of the TRPV subfamily in order to understand the evolutionary process; we identified novel TRPV genes and also characterized the evolutionary flexibility of TRPV3 during vertebrate evolution. We cloned the TRPV3 channel from the western clawed frog Xenopus tropicalis to understand the functional evolution of the TRPV3 channel. The amino acid sequences of the N- and C-terminal regions of the TRPV3 channel were highly diversified from those of other terrestrial vertebrate TRPV3 channels, although central portions were well conserved. In a heterologous expression system, several mammalian TRPV3 agonists did not activate the TRPV3 channel of the western clawed frog. Moreover, the frog TRPV3 channel did not respond to heat stimuli, instead it was activated by cold temperatures. Temperature thresholds for activation were about 16 °C, slightly below the lower temperature limit for the western clawed frog. Given that the TRPV3 channel is expressed in skin, its likely role is to detect noxious cold temperatures. Thus, the western clawed frog and mammals acquired opposite temperature sensitivity of the TRPV3 channel in order to detect environmental temperatures suitable for their respective species, indicating that temperature receptors can dynamically change properties to adapt to different thermal environments during evolution

Chk1 Inhibition Ameliorates Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis and Cognitive Dysfunction Through CIP2A/PP2A Signaling

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease with limited therapeutic strategies. Cell cycle checkpoint protein kinase 1 (Chk1) is a Ser/Thr protein kinase which is activated in response to DNA damage, the latter which is an early event in AD. However, whether DNA damage-induced Chk1 activation participates in the development of AD and Chk1 inhibition ameliorates AD-like pathogenesis remain unclarified. Here, we demonstrate that Chk1 activity and the levels of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) inhibitory protein CIP2A are elevated in AD human brains, APP/PS1 transgenic mice, and primary neurons with A beta treatment. Chk1 overexpression induces CIP2A upregulation, PP2A inhibition, tau and APP hyperphosphorylation, synaptic impairments, and cognitive memory deficit in mice. Moreover, Chk1 inhibitor (GDC0575) effectively increases PP2A activity, decreases tau phosphorylation, and inhibits A beta overproduction in AD cell models. GDC0575 also reverses AD-like cognitive deficits and prevents neuron loss and synaptic impairments in APP/PS1 mice. In conclusion, our study uncovers a mechanism by which DNA damage-induced Chk1 activation promotes CIP2A-mediated tau and APP hyperphosphorylation and cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease and highlights the therapeutic potential of Chk1 inhibitors in AD

High Expression Hampers Horizontal Gene Transfer

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the movement of genetic material from one species to another, is a common phenomenon in prokaryotic evolution. Although the rate of HGT is known to vary among genes, our understanding of the cause of this variation, currently summarized by two rules, is far from complete. The first rule states that informational genes, which are involved in DNA replication, transcription, and translation, have lower transferabilities than operational genes. The second rule asserts that protein interactivity negatively impacts gene transferability. Here, we hypothesize that high expression hampers HGT, because the fitness cost of an HGT to the recipient, arising from the 1) energy expenditure in transcription and translation, 2) cytotoxic protein misfolding, 3) reduction in cellular translational efficiency, 4) detrimental protein misinteraction, and 5) disturbance of the optimal protein concentration or cell physiology, increases with the expression level of the transferred gene. To test this hypothesis, we examined laboratory and natural HGTs to Escherichia coli. We observed lower transferabilities of more highly expressed genes, even after controlling the confounding factors from the two established rules and the genic GC content. Furthermore, expression level predicts gene transferability better than all other factors examined. We also confirmed the significant negative impact of gene expression on the rate of HGTs to 127 of 133 genomes of eubacteria and archaebacteria. Together, these findings establish the gene expression level as a major determinant of horizontal gene transferability. They also suggest that most successful HGTs are initially slightly deleterious, fixed because of their negligibly low costs rather than high benefits to the recipient

Natural Single-Nucleosome Epi-Polymorphisms in Yeast

Epigenomes commonly refer to the sequence of presence/absence of specific epigenetic marks along eukaryotic chromatin. Complete histone-borne epigenomes have now been described at single-nucleosome resolution from various organisms, tissues, developmental stages, or diseases, yet their intra-species natural variation has never been investigated. We describe here that the epigenomic sequence of histone H3 acetylation at Lysine 14 (H3K14ac) differs greatly between two unrelated strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using single-nucleosome chromatin immunoprecipitation and mapping, we interrogated 58,694 nucleosomes and found that 5,442 of them differed in their level of H3K14 acetylation, at a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.0001. These Single Nucleosome Epi-Polymorphisms (SNEPs) were enriched at regulatory sites and conserved non-coding DNA sequences. Surprisingly, higher acetylation in one strain did not imply higher expression of the relevant gene. However, SNEPs were enriched in genes of high transcriptional variability and one SNEP was associated with the strength of gene activation upon stimulation. Our observations suggest a high level of inter-individual epigenomic variation in natural populations, with essential questions on the origin of this diversity and its relevance to gene x environment interactions

Sex-specific Trans-regulatory Variation on the Drosophila melanogaster X Chromosome

The X chromosome constitutes a unique genomic environment because it is present in one copy in males, but two copies in females. This simple fact has motivated several theoretical predictions with respect to how standing genetic variation on the X chromosome should differ from the autosomes. Unmasked expression of deleterious mutations in males and a lower census size are expected to reduce variation, while allelic variants with sexually antagonistic effects, and potentially those with a sex-specific effect, could accumulate on the X chromosome and contribute to increased genetic variation. In addition, incomplete dosage compensation of the X chromosome could potentially dampen the male-specific effects of random mutations, and promote the accumulation of X-linked alleles with sexually dimorphic phenotypic effects. Here we test both the amount and the type of genetic variation on the X chromosome within a population of Drosophila melanogaster, by comparing the proportion of X linked and autosomal trans-regulatory SNPs with a sexually concordant and discordant effect on gene expression. We find that the X chromosome is depleted for SNPs with a sexually concordant effect, but hosts comparatively more SNPs with a sexually discordant effect. Interestingly, the contrasting results for SNPs with sexually concordant and discordant effects are driven by SNPs with a larger influence on expression in females than expression in males. Furthermore, the distribution of these SNPs is shifted towards regions where dosage compensation is predicted to be less complete. These results suggest that intrinsic properties of dosage compensation influence either the accumulation of different types of trans-factors and/or their propensity to accumulate mutations. Our findings document a potential mechanistic basis for sex-specific genetic variation, and identify the X as a reservoir for sexually dimorphic phenotypic variation. These results have general implications for X chromosome evolution, as well as the genetic basis of sex-specific evolutionary change

Evolutionary Rate Covariation Identifies New Members of a Protein Network Required for Drosophila melanogaster Female Post-Mating Responses

Seminal fluid proteins transferred from males to females during copulation are required for full fertility and can exert dramatic effects on female physiology and behavior. In Drosophila melanogaster, the seminal protein sex peptide (SP) affects mated females by increasing egg production and decreasing receptivity to courtship. These behavioral changes persist for several days because SP binds to sperm that are stored in the female. SP is then gradually released, allowing it to interact with its female-expressed receptor. The binding of SP to sperm requires five additional seminal proteins, which act together in a network. Hundreds of uncharacterized male and female proteins have been identified in this species, but individually screening each protein for network function would present a logistical challenge. To prioritize the screening of these proteins for involvement in the SP network, we used a comparative genomic method to identify candidate proteins whose evolutionary rates across the Drosophila phylogeny co-vary with those of the SP network proteins. Subsequent functional testing of 18 co-varying candidates by RNA interference identified three male seminal proteins and three female reproductive tract proteins that are each required for the long-term persistence of SP responses in females. Molecular genetic analysis showed the three new male proteins are required for the transfer of other network proteins to females and for SP to become bound to sperm that are stored in mated females. The three female proteins, in contrast, act downstream of SP binding and sperm storage. These findings expand the number of seminal proteins required for SP's actions in the female and show that multiple female proteins are necessary for the SP response. Furthermore, our functional analyses demonstrate that evolutionary rate covariation is a valuable predictive tool for identifying candidate members of interacting protein networks. © 2014 Findlay et al