Nicotine in the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Nicotine activates plasma membrane (PM) nicotinic receptors (nAChRs), but also permeates into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and cis-Golgi, and there binds to nascent nAChRs. Other psychiatric and abused drugs may also enter the ER and bind their classical targets. Further progress requires direct proof, quantification, and time resolution of these processes in live cells and in the brain of animals. Therefore, we are developing genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors to study the subcellular pharmacokinetics of neural drugs

Emerging inorganic solar cell efficiency tables (Version 1)

This paper presents the efficiency tables of materials considered as emerging inorganic absorbers for photovoltaic solar cell technologies. The materials collected in these tables are selected based on their progress in recent years, and their demonstrated potential as future photovoltaic absorbers. The first part of the paper consists of the criteria for the inclusion of the different technologies in this paper, the verification means used by the authors, and recommendation for measurement best practices. The second part details the highest world-class certified solar cell efficiencies, and the highest non-certified cases (some independently confirmed). The third part highlights the new entries including the record efficiencies, as well as new materials included in this version of the tables. The final part is dedicated to review a specific aspect of materials research that the authors consider of high relevance for the scientific community. In this version of the Efficiency tables, we are including an overview of the latest progress in theoretical methods for modeling of new photovoltaic absorber materials expected to be synthesized and confirmed in the near future. We hope that this emerging inorganic Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (Version 1) paper, as well as its future versions, will advance the field of emerging photovoltaic solar cells by summarizing the progress to date and outlining the future promising research directions

Influence of the exchange-correlation functional on the quasi-harmonic lattice dynamics of II-VI semiconductors

We perform a systematic comparison of the finite-temperature structure and properties of four bulk semiconductors (PbS, PbTe, ZnS, and ZnTe) predicted by eight popular exchange-correlation functionals from quasi-harmonic lattice-dynamics calculations. The performance of the functionals in reproducing the temperature dependence of a number of material properties, including lattice parameters, thermal-expansion coefficients, bulk moduli, heat capacities, and phonon frequencies, is evaluated quantitatively against available experimental data. We find that the phenomenological over- and under-binding characteristics of the local-density approximation and the PW91 and Perdew-Burke-Enzerhof (PBE) generalised-gradient approximation (GGA) functionals, respectively, are exaggerated at finite temperature, whereas the PBEsol GGA shows good general performance across all four systems. The Tao-Perdew-Staroverov-Scuseria (TPSS) and revTPSS meta-GGAs provide relatively small improvements over PBE, with the latter being better suited to calculating structural and dynamical properties, but both are considerably more computationally demanding than the simpler GGAs. The dispersion-corrected PBE-D2 and PBE-D3 functionals perform well in describing the lattice dynamics of the zinc chalcogenides, whereas the lead chalcogenides appear to be challenging for these functionals. These findings show that quasi-harmonic calculations with a suitable functional can predict finite-temperature structure and properties with useful accuracy, and that this technique can serve as a means of evaluating the performance of new functionals in the future

Nicotine in the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Nicotine activates plasma membrane (PM) nicotinic receptors (nAChRs), but also permeates into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and cis-Golgi, and there binds to nascent nAChRs. Other psychiatric and abused drugs may also enter the ER and bind their classical targets. Further progress requires direct proof, quantification, and time resolution of these processes in live cells and in the brain of animals. Therefore, we are developing genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors to study the subcellular pharmacokinetics of neural drugs

Low-frequency optical phonon modes and carrier mobility in the halide perovskite CH3NH3PbBr3 using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

As a light absorber in photovoltaic applications, hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites should have long and balanced diffusion lengths for both the separated electrons and holes before recombi- nation, which necessitates high carrier mobility. In polar semiconductors, the room-temperature carrier mobility is often limited by the scattering between carriers and the lowest-frequency optical phonon modes. Using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, we examine the temperature evolution of these phonon modes in CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 and obtained high carrier mobility values using Feynman’s polaron theory. This method allows us to estimate the upper limit of carrier mobilities without the need to create photogenerated free carriers, and can be applied to other heteropolar semiconductor systems with large polarons

Débat avec les responsables scientifiques de l’axe 3

Valérie Carayol : Vous avez dit que « dans la mêlée du direct, nous participons plutôt que nous symbolisons » et que « l’induction se vit au présent ». Hier, avec Wolfgang Settekorn qui nous a parlé de métaphorisations mutuelles avec des exemples visuels et avec Philippe Breton qui nous a parlé d’amalgame, on avait déjà esquissé un rapprochement entre l’induction et les dynamiques spatiales, pas obligatoirement une dynamique temporelle. Est-ce que vous pourriez préciser cette idée du direct, ..

Molecular understanding of sulphuric acid-amine particle nucleation in the atmosphere

4 pages 359-363 in the print version, additional 7 pages online.Peer reviewe

The immunobiology of primary sclerosing cholangitis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease histologically characterized by the presence of intrahepatic and/or extrahepatic biliary duct concentric, obliterative fibrosis, eventually leading to cirrhosis. Approximately 75% of patients with PSC have inflammatory bowel disease. The male predominance of PSC, the lack of a defined, pathogenic autoantigen, and the potential role of the innate immune system suggest that it may be due to dysregulation of immunity rather than a classic autoimmune disease. However, PSC is associated with several classic autoimmune diseases, and the strongest genetic link to PSC identified to date is with the human leukocyte antigen DRB01*03 haplotype. The precise immunopathogenesis of PSC is largely unknown but likely involves activation of the innate immune system by bacterial components delivered to the liver via the portal vein. Induction of adhesion molecules and chemokines leads to the recruitment of intestinal lymphocytes. Bile duct injury results from the sustained inflammation and production of inflammatory cytokines. Biliary strictures may cause further damage as a result of bile stasis and recurrent secondary bacterial cholangitis. Currently, there is no effective therapy for PSC and developing a rational therapeutic strategy demands a better understanding of the disease