Deformation behavior of ion-irradiated polyimide

We study nanoindentationhardness, Young’s modulus, and tensile strength of polyimide (Kapton H) films bombarded with MeV light ions in the predominantly electronic stopping power regime. Results show that, for all the ion irradiation conditions studied, bombardment increases the hardness and Young’s modulus and decreases the tensile strength. These changes depend close to linearly on ion fluence and superlinearly (with a power-law exponent factor of ∼1.5) on electronic energy loss. Physical mechanisms of radiation-induced changes to mechanical properties of polyimide are discussed.This work was performed under the auspices of the U. S. Department of Energy by the University of California, LLNL under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48. The project (03-FS- 027) was funded by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at LLNL

Soybean Seed Extracts Preferentially Express Genomic Loci of Bradyrhizobium japonicum in the Initial Interaction with Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr

Initial interaction between rhizobia and legumes actually starts via encounters of both partners in the rhizosphere. In this study, the global expression profiles of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 in response to soybean (Glycine max) seed extracts (SSE) and genistein, a major soybean-released isoflavone for nod genes induction of B. japonicum, were compared. SSE induced many genomic loci as compared with genistein (5.0 µM), nevertheless SSE-supplemented medium contained 4.7 µM genistein. SSE markedly induced four predominant genomic regions within a large symbiosis island (681 kb), which include tts genes (type III secretion system) and various nod genes. In addition, SSE-treated cells expressed many genomic loci containing genes for polygalacturonase (cell-wall degradation), exopolysaccharide synthesis, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase, ribosome proteins family and energy metabolism even outside symbiosis island. On the other hand, genistein-treated cells exclusively showed one expression cluster including common nod gene operon within symbiosis island and six expression loci including multidrug resistance, which were shared with SSE-treated cells. Twelve putatively regulated genes were indeed validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Several SSE-induced genomic loci likely participate in the initial interaction with legumes. Thus, these results can provide a basic knowledge for screening novel genes relevant to the B. japonicum- soybean symbiosis

Reconstruction of the Core and Extended Regulons of Global Transcription Factors

The processes underlying the evolution of regulatory networks are unclear. To address this question, we used a comparative genomics approach that takes advantage of the large number of sequenced bacterial genomes to predict conserved and variable members of transcriptional regulatory networks across phylogenetically related organisms. Specifically, we developed a computational method to predict the conserved regulons of transcription factors across α-proteobacteria. We focused on the CRP/FNR super-family of transcription factors because it contains several well-characterized members, such as FNR, FixK, and DNR. While FNR, FixK, and DNR are each proposed to regulate different aspects of anaerobic metabolism, they are predicted to recognize very similar DNA target sequences, and they occur in various combinations among individual α-proteobacterial species. In this study, the composition of the respective FNR, FixK, or DNR conserved regulons across 87 α-proteobacterial species was predicted by comparing the phylogenetic profiles of the regulators with the profiles of putative target genes. The utility of our predictions was evaluated by experimentally characterizing the FnrL regulon (a FNR-type regulator) in the α-proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Our results show that this approach correctly predicted many regulon members, provided new insights into the biological functions of the respective regulons for these regulators, and suggested models for the evolution of the corresponding transcriptional networks. Our findings also predict that, at least for the FNR-type regulators, there is a core set of target genes conserved across many species. In addition, the members of the so-called extended regulons for the FNR-type regulators vary even among closely related species, possibly reflecting species-specific adaptation to environmental and other factors. The comparative genomics approach we developed is readily applicable to other regulatory networks

Preparation Of Polyimide Ablator Coatings Meeting The NIF Specifications

We completed the development of a method for preparing smooth vapor deposited polyimide (PI) up to 160 {micro}m thick for NIF target capsules. The process consists of two steps. The first step is vacuum chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of monomer species, pyromelletic dianhydride and oxidianaline, which react on the surface of a shell to form short chain oligomers of polyamic acid. In the second step solvent vapor exposure in a gas levitation apparatus swells and fluidizes the outer surface. Roughness in the outer fluid layer is reduced by surface-tension-driven flow. The shells are cured in the final smoothing step by heating to 300 C reacting the polyamic acid to polyimide. Recent experiments using x-ray radiography have allowed us to determine the depth of solvent penetration and the solvent concentration over a range of solvent exposure conditions. We found that the rate of penetration is a function of the solvent partial pressure in the flowing vapor stream. The concentration of solvent in the swollen layer is 0.45 g/cc and is independent of exposure conditions. Using the penetration information we were able to improve the smoothing process by increasing the solvent partial pressure. The optimized vapor smoothing process allowed us to consistently meet the smoothness specifications of NIF capsules