Van der Waals effects on grazing incidence fast atom diffraction for H/LiF(001)

We theoretically address grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD) for H atoms impinging on a LiF(001) surface. Our model combines a description of the H-LiF(001) interaction obtained from Density Functional Theory calculations with a semi-quantum treatment of the dynamics. We analyze simulated diffraction patterns in terms of the incidence channel, the impact energy associated with the motion normal to the surface, and the relevance of Van der Waals (VdW) interactions. We then contrast our simulations with experimental patterns for different incidence conditions. Our most important finding is that, for normal energies lower than 0.5 eV and incidence along the channel, the inclusion of Van der Waals interactions in our potential energy surface yields a greatly improved accord between simulations and experiments. This agreement strongly suggests a non-negligible role of Van der Waals interactions in H/LiF(001) GIFAD in the low-to-intermediate normal energy regime

Trajectory-dependent energy loss for swift He atoms axially scattered off a silver surface

Angle- and energy-loss- resolved distributions of helium atoms grazingly scattered from a Ag(110) surface along low indexed crystallographic directions are investigated considering impact energies in the few keV range. Final projectile distributions are evaluated within a semi-classical formalism that includes dissipative effects due to electron-hole excitations through a friction force. For mono-energetic beams impinging along the $[1\bar{1}0]$, $[1\bar{1}2]$ and $[1\bar{1}0]$ directions, the model predicts the presence of multiple peak structures in energy-loss spectra. Such structures provide detailed information about the trajectory-dependent energy loss. However, when the experimental dispersion of the incident beam is taken into account, these energy-loss peaks are completely washed out, giving rise to a smooth energy-loss distribution, in fairly good agreement with available experimental data

Competition between electron and phonon excitations in the scattering of nitrogen atoms and molecules off tungsten and silver surfaces

We investigate the role played by electron-hole pair and phonon excitations in the interaction of reactive gas molecules and atoms with metal surfaces. We present a theoretical framework that allows us to evaluate within a full-dimensional dynamics the combined contribution of both excitation mechanisms while the gas particle-surface interaction is described by an ab-initio potential energy surface. The model is applied to study energy dissipation in the scattering of N$_2$ on W(110) and N on Ag(111). Our results show that phonon excitation is the dominant energy loss channel whereas electron-hole pair excitations represent a minor contribution. We substantiate that, even when the energy dissipated is quantitatively significant, important aspects of the scattering dynamics are well captured by the adiabatic approximation.Comment: 4pages and 3 figure

Dacian Fortresses in Orastie Mountains: Management of Heritage Structures

The protection of the built and archaeological heritage is an increasingly debated topic in recent years. In order to protect these valuable historic structures and preserve them for the future, holistic approaches are necessary. These generally involves a wide range of specialists and collaborators, multidisciplinary way of developing conservation strategies, while maintaining their original features. However, recent studies highlight the fact that the management of heritage sites and buildings is far more than the simple aesthetic and structural repair. It means acknowledging the role of societies and communities in maintaining the importance of these structures and the risk of environmental factors (climate change challenges or earthquake risk) on their state of conservation and the effect of unauthorized interventions over time. Therefore, based on the case study of Orastioara, a commune in Hunedoara County, Romania, where 3 UNESCO heritage sites (from a total of 6 UNESCO sites in the area) can be found and numerous monuments of national and local importance, the study is presenting the challenges encountered during the development of the general urban plan of the commune, in relation with all the establishments that conserve Dacian fortresses – sites UNESCO; and also a proposal for the future management plan of the protected sites. Since the heritage structures have been neglected over the years, the paper comprises a general overview of the complexity of the developed conservation strategy, in order to be able to manage the heritage structures while taking the particularities of their context into consideration

Non-adiabatic effects during the dissociative adsorption of O2 at Ag(111)? A first-principles divide and conquer study

We study the gas-surface dynamics of O2 at Ag(111) with the particular objective to unravel whether electronic non-adiabatic effects are contributing to the experimentally established inertness of the surface with respect to oxygen uptake. We employ a first-principles divide and conquer approach based on an extensive density-functional theory mapping of the adiabatic potential energy surface (PES) along the six O2 molecular degrees of freedom. Neural networks are subsequently used to interpolate this grid data to a continuous representation. The low computational cost with which forces are available from this PES representation allows then for a sufficiently large number of molecular dynamics trajectories to quantitatively determine the very low initial dissociative sticking coefficient at this surface. Already these adiabatic calculations yield dissociation probabilities close to the scattered experimental data. Our analysis shows that this low reactivity is governed by large energy barriers in excess of 1.1 eV very close to the surface. Unfortunately, these adiabatic PES characteristics render the dissociative sticking a rather insensitive quantity with respect to a potential spin or charge non-adiabaticity in the O2-Ag(111) interaction. We correspondingly attribute the remaining deviations between the computed and measured dissociation probabilities primarily to unresolved experimental issues with respect to surface imperfections.Comment: 18 pages including 6 figure

Functional Promoter Polymorphisms Govern Differential Expression of HMG-CoA Reductase Gene in Mouse Models of Essential Hypertension

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A [HMG-CoA] reductase gene (Hmgcr) is a susceptibility gene for essential hypertension. Sequencing of the Hmgcr locus in genetically hypertensive BPH (blood pressure high), genetically hypotensive BPL (blood pressure low) and genetically normotensive BPN (blood pressure normal) mice yielded a number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). BPH/BPL/BPN Hmgcr promoter-luciferase reporter constructs were generated and transfected into liver HepG2, ovarian CHO, kidney HEK-293 and neuronal N2A cells for functional characterization of the promoter SNPs. The BPH-Hmgcr promoter showed significantly less activity than the BPL-Hmgcr promoter under basal as well as nicotine/cholesterol-treated conditions. This finding was consistent with lower endogenous Hmgcr expression in liver and lower plasma cholesterol in BPH mice. Transfection experiments using 5′-promoter deletion constructs (strategically made to assess the functional significance of each promoter SNP) and computational analysis predicted lower binding affinities of transcription factors c-Fos, n-Myc and Max with the BPH-promoter as compared to the BPL-promoter. Corroboratively, the BPH promoter-luciferase reporter construct co-transfected with expression plasmids of these transcription factors displayed less pronounced augmentation of luciferase activity than the BPL construct, particularly at lower amounts of transcription factor plasmids. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays also showed diminished interactions of the BPH promoter with HepG2 nuclear proteins. Taken together, this study provides mechanistic basis for the differential Hmgcr expression in these mouse models of human essential hypertension and have implications for better understanding the role of this gene in regulation of blood pressure

Cholesterol Crystals Activate the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Human Macrophages: A Novel Link between Cholesterol Metabolism and Inflammation

Chronic inflammation of the arterial wall is a key element in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, yet the factors that trigger and sustain the inflammation remain elusive. Inflammasomes are cytoplasmic caspase-1-activating protein complexes that promote maturation and secretion of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin(IL)-1beta and IL-18. The most intensively studied inflammasome, NLRP3 inflammasome, is activated by diverse substances, including crystalline and particulate materials. As cholesterol crystals are abundant in atherosclerotic lesions, and IL-1beta has been linked to atherogenesis, we explored the possibility that cholesterol crystals promote inflammation by activating the inflammasome pathway.Here we show that human macrophages avidly phagocytose cholesterol crystals and store the ingested cholesterol as cholesteryl esters. Importantly, cholesterol crystals induced dose-dependent secretion of mature IL-1beta from human monocytes and macrophages. The cholesterol crystal-induced secretion of IL-1beta was caspase-1-dependent, suggesting the involvement of an inflammasome-mediated pathway. Silencing of the NLRP3 receptor, the crucial component in NLRP3 inflammasome, completely abolished crystal-induced IL-1beta secretion, thus identifying NLRP3 inflammasome as the cholesterol crystal-responsive element in macrophages. The crystals were shown to induce leakage of the lysosomal protease cathepsin B into the cytoplasm and inhibition of this enzyme reduced cholesterol crystal-induced IL-1beta secretion, suggesting that NLRP3 inflammasome activation occurred via lysosomal destabilization.The cholesterol crystal-induced inflammasome activation in macrophages may represent an important link between cholesterol metabolism and inflammation in atherosclerotic lesions