497 research outputs found
Highly Active and Stable NiCuMo Electrocatalyst Supported on 304 Stainless Steel Porous Transport Layer for Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Water Electrolyzer
Several functionalized porous transport layers with Pt-free electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline conditions, based on Ni, Cu, and Mo, are prepared through electrodeposition onto a 304 stainless steel mesh. Morphological characterization confirms the fabrication of electrodes with high electrochemical surface active area due to the formation of hierarchical nanostructures. Mo presence into the electrocatalysts increases the activity toward the hydrogen evolution reaction. The optimization of electrodeposition process leads to the preparation of highly active NiCuMo electrocatalyst that exhibits near zero onset overpotential and overpotentials of 15 and 113 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm(-2), respectively, in 1 m KOH electrolyte. Moreover, this electrocatalyst shows superior stability with respect to other Pt-free electrocatalysts, reaching 100 h of durability with low overpotentials value demonstrating the successful preparation of very promising functionalized porous transport layers for future-generation alkaline electrolyzers
Performance Testing of a Photocatalytic Oxidation Module for Spacecraft Cabin Atmosphere Revitalization
Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) is a candidate process technology for use in high volumetric flow rate trace contaminant control applications in sealed environments. The targeted application for PCO as applied to crewed spacecraft life support system architectures is summarized. Technical challenges characteristic of PCO are considered. Performance testing of a breadboard PCO reactor design for mineralizing polar organic compounds in a spacecraft cabin atmosphere is described. Test results are analyzed and compared to results reported in the literature for comparable PCO reactor designs
Tree Amplitudes and Two-loop Counterterms in D=11 Supergravity
We compute the tree level 4-particle bosonic scattering amplitudes in D=11
supergravity. By construction, they are part of a linearized supersymmetry-,
coordinate- and 3-form gauge-invariant. While this on-shell invariant is
nonlocal, suitable SUSY-preserving differentiations turn it into a local one
with correct dimension to provide a natural lowest (two-loop) order counterterm
candidate. Its existence shows explicitly that no symmetries protect this
ultimate supergravity from the nonrenormalizability of its lower-dimensional
counterparts.Comment: 14 page
Gauge Invariance, Finite Temperature and Parity Anomaly in D=3
The effective gauge field actions generated by charged fermions in
and can be made invariant under both small and large gauge
transformations at any temperature by suitable regularization of the Dirac
operator determinant, at the price of parity anomalies. We resolve the paradox
that the perturbative expansion is not invariant, as manifested by the
temperature dependence of the induced Chern-Simons term, by showing that large
(unlike small) transformations and hence their Ward identities, are not
perturbative order-preserving. Our results are illustrated through concrete
examples of field configurations.Comment: 4 pages, RevTe
Temporal Modulation of Traveling Waves in the Flow Between Rotating Cylinders With Broken Azimuthal Symmetry
The effect of temporal modulation on traveling waves in the flows in two
distinct systems of rotating cylinders, both with broken azimuthal symmetry,
has been investigated. It is shown that by modulating the control parameter at
twice the critical frequency one can excite phase-locked standing waves and
standing-wave-like states which are not allowed when the system is rotationally
symmetric. We also show how previous theoretical results can be extended to
handle patterns such as these, that are periodic in two spatial direction.Comment: 17 pages in LaTeX, 22 figures available as postscript files from
http://www.esam.nwu.edu/riecke/lit/lit.htm
Effective QED Actions: Representations, Gauge Invariance, Anomalies and Mass Expansions
We analyze and give explicit representations for the effective abelian vector
gauge field actions generated by charged fermions with particular attention to
the thermal regime in odd dimensions, where spectral asymmetry can be present.
We show, through function regularization, that both small and large
gauge invariances are preserved at any temperature and for any number of
fermions at the usual price of anomalies: helicity/parity invariance will be
lost in even/odd dimensions, and in the latter even at zero mass. Gauge
invariance dictates a very general ``Fourier'' representation of the action in
terms of the holonomies that carry the novel, large gauge invariant,
information. We show that large (unlike small) transformations and hence their
Ward identities, are not perturbative order-preserving, and clarify the role of
(properly redefined) Chern-Simons terms in this context. From a powerful
representation of the action in terms of massless heat kernels, we are able to
obtain rigorous gauge invariant expansions, for both small and large fermion
masses, of its separate parity even and odd parts in arbitrary dimension. The
representation also displays both the nonperturbative origin of a finite
renormalization ambiguity, and its physical resolution by requiring decoupling
at infinite mass. Finally, we illustrate these general results by explicit
computation of the effective action for some physical examples of field
configurations in the three dimensional case, where our conclusions on finite
temperature effects may have physical relevance. Nonabelian results will be
presented separately.Comment: 36 pages, RevTeX, no figure
Implantation failure in female Kiss1-/- mice is independent of their hypogonadic state and can be partially rescued by leukemia inhibitory factor.
The hypothalamic kisspeptin signaling system is a major positive regulator of the reproductive neuroendocrine axis, and loss of Kiss1 in the mouse results in infertility, a condition generally attributed to its hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. We demonstrate that in Kiss1(-/-) female mice, acute replacement of gonadotropins and estradiol restores ovulation, mating, and fertilization; however, these mice are still unable to achieve pregnancy because embryos fail to implant. Progesterone treatment did not overcome this defect. Kiss1(+/-) embryos transferred to a wild-type female mouse can successfully implant, demonstrating the defect is due to maternal factors. Kisspeptin and its receptor are expressed in the mouse uterus, and we suggest that it is the absence of uterine kisspeptin signaling that underlies the implantation failure. This absence, however, does not prevent the closure of the uterine implantation chamber, proper alignment of the embryo, and the ability of the uterus to undergo decidualization. Instead, the loss of Kiss1 expression specifically disrupts embryo attachment to the uterus. We observed that on the day of implantation, leukemia inhibitory factor (Lif), a cytokine that is absolutely required for implantation in mice, is weakly expressed in Kiss1(-/-) uterine glands and that the administration of exogenous Lif to hormone-primed Kiss1(-/-) female mice is sufficient to partially rescue implantation. Taken together, our study reveals that uterine kisspeptin signaling regulates glandular Lif levels, thereby identifying a novel and critical role for kisspeptin in regulating embryo implantation in the mouse. This study provides compelling reasons to explore this role in other species, particularly livestock and humans
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