Microstructure evolution in aluminium 6060 during incremental ECAP

An AA6060 Al-Mg-Si alloy was used to investigate the microstructure evolution on X, Y and Z planes after processing by Incremental Equal Channel Angular Pressing (IECAP) at room temperature after 1 and 4 passes. The basic microstructural parameters (mean grain size, grain boundary statistics) were evaluated

5,6,7,8-Tetra­hydro­quinolin-8-one

In the quinoline fused-ring system of the title compound, C9H9NO, the pyridine ring is planar to within 0.011 (3) Å, while the partially saturated cyclo­hexene ring adopts a sofa conformation with an asymmetry parameter ΔC s(C6) = 1.5 (4)°. There are no classical hydrogen bonds in the crystal structure. Mol­ecules form mol­ecular layers parallel to (100) with a distance between the layers of a/2 = 3.468 Å

Structure-reactivity study of O-tosyl Cinchona alkaloids in their new synthesis and in hydrolysis to 9-epibases : unexpected formation of cinchonicine enol tosylate accelerated by microwave activation

New methods for O - tosylation of the natural Cinchona alkaloids have been discovered as a biphasic processes with Bu 3 N as a catalyst. The optimized excess of tosy l chloride , necessary for transformation of each of the four alkaloid s into O - tosy l derivative , decreases in the following order : quinine, quinidine, cinchonidine and cinchonine . The same decreasing order has been noticed for the hy drolysis rate of the appropriate tosylates to 9 - epibases . D iffic ult conversion of O - tosy lcinchonine in the hydrolytic medium of aq ueous tarta ric acid gives 9 - epicinchonine together with parallel formation of cinchonicine enol tosylate. The latter product is obtained as the main when both cinchonine and cinchonidine tosylates react in the presence of salicylic acid under controlled microwave heating . On the basis of X - ray structure of the new alkene product, the stereoselective syn - E2 quinuclidine ring opening process , competing to the S N 2 hydrolysis is postulated for this transformation

Origin of ferromagnetism in (Zn,Co)O from magnetization and spin-dependent magnetoresistance

In order to elucidate the nature of ferromagnetic signatures observed in (Zn,Co)O we have examined experimentally and theoretically magnetic properties and spin-dependent quantum localization effects that control low-temperature magnetoresistance. Our findings, together with a through structural characterization, substantiate the model assigning spontaneous magnetization of (Zn,Co)O to uncompensated spins at the surface of antiferromagnetic nanocrystal of Co-rich wurtzite (Zn,Co)O. The model explains a large anisotropy observed in both magnetization and magnetoresistance in terms of spin hamiltonian of Co ions in the crystal field of the wurtzite lattice.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Instytucjonalna Polityka Otwartego Dostępu. Działania związane z wprowadzeniem otwartego mandatu wobec publikacji naukowych na Politechnice Krakowskiej

The article presents actions that preceded the introduction of open access policy for scientific publications at the Cracow University of Technology. These included: preparation of the IT infrastructure, providing access to doctoral dissertations, creating the CUT Repository, development of legal documents, introducing open licenses for scientific journals published at the CUT, information and educational actions in the field of OA. These works were carried out following the guidelines contained in government documents and based on practical solutions implemented in this area in the scientific community. The above-mentioned actions led to the introduction of Open Access Policy at the CUT under the Ordinance of the Rector of the CUT of 22 March 2019. The article also discusses the data presented in the first report on the implementation of the Open Access Policy at the Cracow University of Technology and the resulting conclusions.Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie działań poprzedzających wprowadzenie Polityki Otwartego Dostępu wobec publikacji naukowych na Politechnice Krakowskiej (PK). Działania, których skutkiem było przyjęcie otwartego mandatu na PK, obejmowały m.in.: przygotowanie infrastruktury informatycznej – w tym utworzenie Repozytorium PK, opracowanie dokumentów prawnych, udostępnienie rozpraw doktorskich, wprowadzenie otwartych licencji dla czasopism naukowych wydawanych na PK, działania informacyjne i edukacyjne w zakresie OA. Prace te realizowano zgodnie z wytycznymi zawartymi w dokumentach rządowych oraz na podstawie praktycznych rozwiązań zrealizowanych w instytucjach naukowych. Konsekwencją tych działań było wprowadzenie, na mocy zarządzenia Rektora PK z dnia 22 marca 2019 roku, Polityki Otwartego Dostępu na PK. W podsumowaniu omówiono również dane przedstawione w pierwszym Raporcie z realizacji Polityki Otwartego Dostępu na Politechnice Krakowskiej

Ultrastructural features of supraspinal muscles in rabbits after long-term transcutaneous lateral electrical surface stimulation (LESS)

Lateral electrical surface stimulation is one of methods used in the therapy of the progressive form of idiopathic scoliosis (IS) in children and youth. However, there are data suggesting that this method may lead to serious adverse side effects, when used for a too long period of time per day. To clarify this issue, the present study was aimed at disclosing possible changes in the ultrastructural appearance of rabbit supraspinal muscles undergoing long-term stimulation (9 h per day, 3 months), an animal model successfully used to mimic the situation in humans. In comparison to the control animals, muscles of "overstimulated" rabbits exhibited clear signs of microscopical lesions, including depletion and disintegration of myofilaments, proliferation, dilatation and, sometimes, swelling of sarcoplasmic reticulum and/or mitochondria, as well as signs of destruction of the Z line. The above-mentioned abnormalities, especially the signs of degenerative processes associated with the Z line and the observed microlesions strongly suggest that the failure of the long-term LESS therapy of the IS may be attributable to these ultrastructural lesions

The dynamics of the non-heme iron in bacterial reaction centers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides

AbstractWe investigate the dynamical properties of the non-heme iron (NHFe) in His-tagged photosynthetic bacterial reaction centers (RCs) isolated from Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides. Mössbauer spectroscopy and nuclear inelastic scattering of synchrotron radiation (NIS) were applied to monitor the arrangement and flexibility of the NHFe binding site. In His-tagged RCs, NHFe was stabilized only in a high spin ferrous state. Its hyperfine parameters (IS=1.06±0.01mm/s and QS=2.12±0.01mm/s), and Debye temperature (θD0~167K) are comparable to those detected for the high spin state of NHFe in non-His-tagged RCs. For the first time, pure vibrational modes characteristic of NHFe in a high spin ferrous state are revealed. The vibrational density of states (DOS) shows some maxima between 22 and 33meV, 33 and 42meV, and 53 and 60meV and a very sharp one at 44.5meV. In addition, we observe a large contribution of vibrational modes at low energies. This iron atom is directly connected to the protein matrix via all its ligands, and it is therefore extremely sensitive to the collective motions of the RC protein core. A comparison of the DOS spectra of His-tagged and non-His-tagged RCs from Rb. sphaeroides shows that in the latter case the spectrum was overlapped by the vibrations of the heme iron of residual cytochrome c2, and a low spin state of NHFe in addition to its high spin one. This enabled us to pin-point vibrations characteristic for the low spin state of NHFe

5,6,7,8-Tetra­hydro­quinoline 1-oxide hemihydrate

In the title compound, C9H11NO·0.5H2O, the asymmetric unit contains two similar mol­ecules of 5,6,7,8-tetra­hydro­quinoline 1-oxide and one water mol­ecule. The water mol­ecule links the two O atoms of both independent N-oxides into dimers via O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network along [101], which is additionally stabilized by weak C—H⋯O inter­molecular inter­actions. In each mol­ecule, the saturated six-membered rings exist in a conformation inter­mediate between a half-chair and sofa

Expression, Localization, and Phosphorylation of Akt1 in Benign and Malignant Thyroid Lesions

The serine/threonine protein kinase Akt is a key molecule in the phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase pathway that is often overactivated in human cancers. Three Akt isoforms (Akt1, Akt2, Akt3) have been identified in human cells and they show different distribution and have non-redundant functions. The aim of this study was to determine whether the expression, phosphorylation, and localization of Akt1 isoform in human thyroid malignant lesions are different from those in benign lesions. Nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions were isolated from tissue samples and Western blot method was used to detect Akt1 presence in both cellular fractions. Akt1 expression was also assessed by ELISA method. To estimate Akt1 phosphorylation, kinase was immunoprecipitated from cell lysates and tested with anti-phospho-Akt antibodies. The Akt1 expression in majority of thyroid cancer samples was significantly higher than in benign lesions (p < 0.05). Akt1 both in differentiated cancers (follicular and papillary) and benign lesions was localized mainly in cytoplasmic fraction. In two of three anaplastic cancer samples Akt1 was predominantly localized in nucleus. The ratio of phosphorylated Akt1 to total Akt1 was lower in cancers than in non-neoplastic lesions and adenomas. Thus, although Akt1 seems to be overexpressed in thyroid neoplasms, its high phosphorylation is not characteristic for thyroid cancers