Improved crack resistance and thermal conductivity of cubic zirconia containing graphene nanoplatelets

Composites of 8 mol.% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) with graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) have been pointed as alternative interconnectors in SOFC due to their mixed ionic-electronic conduction. Here we show that GNP addition provides rising crack-resistance behavior, with long crack toughness up to 78% higher than that of 8YSZ, also improving its thermal conductivity (up to 6 times for the in-plane direction). Toughness versus crack length is measured for 7 and 11 vol.% of GNP using single edge V-notched beam technique and ultrashort pulsed laser notching; and thermal behavior is analyzed by the laser flash method. Materials also have highly anisotropic coefficient of thermal expansion. These properties contribute to enhance their performance under the harsh operating conditions of SOFC, as thermal residual stresses could be reduced while significantly improving the system mechanical stability. Moreover, the heat transfer may be enhanced especially along the interface direction which would increase the system efficiency.This work was supported by Spanish project RTI2018-095052-B-I00, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Spain (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). AG and PM acknowledge support from Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Spanish government (Project FIS2017- 87970-R) and Junta de Castilla y León, Spain (Project SA287P18). C. R. thanks the financial support by MCIU under contract IJCI-2017-34724 of “Juan de la Cierva” Program

Nanovesicles displaying functional linear and branched oligomannose self-assembled from sequence-defined Janus glycodendrimers

Cell surfaces are often decorated with glycoconjugates that contain linear and more complex symmetrically and asymmetrically branched carbohydrates essential for cellular recognition and communication processes. Mannose is one of the fundamental building blocks of glycans in many biological membranes. Moreover, oligomannoses are commonly found on the surface of pathogens such as bacteria and viruses as both glycolipids and glycoproteins. However, their mechanism of action is not well understood, even though this is of great potential interest for translational medicine. Sequence-defined amphiphilic Janus glycodendrimers containing simple mono- and disaccharides that mimic glycolipids are known to self-assemble into glycodendrimersomes, which in turn resemble the surface of a cell by encoding carbohydrate activity via supramolecular multivalency. The synthetic challenge of preparing Janus glycodendrimers containing more complex linear and branched glycans has so far prevented access to more realistic cell mimics. However, the present work reports the use of an isothiocyanate-amine “click”-like reaction between isothiocyanate-containing sequence-defined amphiphilic Janus dendrimers and either linear or branched oligosaccharides containing up to six monosaccharide units attached to a hydrophobic amino-pentyl linker, a construct not expected to assemble into glycodendrimersomes. Unexpectedly, these oligoMan-containing dendrimers, which have their hydrophobic linker connected via a thiourea group to the amphiphilic part of Janus glycodendrimers, self-organize into nanoscale glycodendrimersomes. Specifically, the mannose-binding lectins that best agglutinate glycodendrimersomes are those displaying hexamannose. Lamellar “raft-like” nanomorphologies on the surface of glycodendrimersomes, self-organized from these sequence-defined glycans, endow these membrane mimics with high biological activity. © 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

miR-132 Enhances Dendritic Morphogenesis, Spine Density, Synaptic Integration, and Survival of Newborn Olfactory Bulb Neurons

An array of signals regulating the early stages of postnatal subventricular zone (SVZ) neurogenesis has been identified, but much less is known regarding the molecules controlling late stages. Here, we investigated the function of the activity-dependent and morphogenic microRNA miR-132 on the synaptic integration and survival of olfactory bulb (OB) neurons born in the neonatal SVZ. In situ hybridization revealed that miR-132 expression occurs at the onset of synaptic integration in the OB. Using in vivo electroporation we found that sequestration of miR-132 using a sponge-based strategy led to a reduced dendritic complexity and spine density while overexpression had the opposite effects. These effects were mirrored with respective changes in the frequency of GABAergic and glutamatergic synaptic inputs reflecting altered synaptic integration. In addition, timely directed overexpression of miR-132 at the onset of synaptic integration using an inducible approach led to a significant increase in the survival of newborn neurons. These data suggest that miR-132 forms the basis of a structural plasticity program seen in SVZ-OB postnatal neurogenesis. miR-132 overexpression in transplanted neurons may thus hold promise for enhancing neuronal survival and improving the outcome of transplant therapies

Merging Mouse Transcriptome Analyses with Parkinson's Disease Linkage Studies

The hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD OMIM #168600) is the degeneration of the nigral dopaminergic system affecting approximately 1% of the human population older than 65. In pursuit of genetic factors contributing to PD, linkage and association studies identified several susceptibility genes. The majority of these genes are expressed by the dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra. We, therefore, propose expression by these neurons as a selection criterion, to narrow down, in a rational manner, the number of candidate genes in orphan PD loci, where no mutation has been associated thus far. We determined the corresponding human chromosome locations of 1435 murine cDNA fragments obtained from murine expression analyses of nigral dopaminergic neurons and combined these data with human linkage studies. These fragments represent 19 genes within orphan OMIM PD loci. We used the same approach for independent association studies and determined the genes in neighborhood to the peaks with the highest LOD score value. Our approach did not make any assumptions about disease mechanisms, but it, nevertheless, revealed α-synuclein, NR4A2 (Nurr1), and the tau genes, which had previously been associated to PD. Furthermore, our transcriptome analysis identified several classes of candidate genes for PD mutations and may also provide insight into the molecular pathways active in nigral dopaminergic neurons

EP₂ receptor antagonism reduces peripheral and central hyperalgesia in a preclinical mouse model of endometriosis

Endometriosis is an incurable gynecological disorder characterized by debilitating pain and the establishment of innervated endometriosis lesions outside the uterus. In a preclinical mouse model of endometriosis we demonstrated overexpression of the PGE2-signaling pathway (including COX-2, EP2, EP4) in endometriosis lesions, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), spinal cord, thalamus and forebrain. TRPV1, a PGE2-regulated channel in nociceptive neurons was also increased in the DRG. These findings support the concept that an amplification process occurs along the pain neuroaxis in endometriosis. We then tested TRPV1, EP2, and EP4 receptor antagonists: The EP2 antagonist was the most efficient analgesic, reducing primary hyperalgesia by 80% and secondary hyperalgesia by 40%. In this study we demonstrate reversible peripheral and central hyperalgesia in mice with induced endometriosis

Ceria-stabilized zirconia-based composites as an alternative to titanium and yttria-stabilized zirconia in the dental field

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Sintering behaviour and microstructural evolution of ultrapure α-alumina containing low amounts of SiO2

cited By 17International audienceThe effect of small additions of silica (SiO2) on the densification and microstructural evolution of an ultrapure α-alumina (Al2O3) has been investigated. The role of SiO2 on the sintering behaviour was elucidated through an extensive dilatometric study performed on pure alumina and on doped samples with small amounts of colloidal silica (up to 2000 ppm). It has been found that the addition of SiO2 leads to a significant decrease of the shrinkage rate at the intermediate state of sintering due to the reduction of point defects (predominantly oxygen vacancies). Doping with small amounts of SiO2 results in heterogeneous microstructures in which abnormal grain growth was observed above a critical temperature of near 1600 °C. Below this temperature, silicon was detected at the grain-boundary triple junctions forming amorphous pockets and over 10 nm at each side of the grain boundaries. Above 1600 °C, a glassy phase of 2-3 nm in thickness was formed at the grain boundaries. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved