The dynamics of copper intercalated molybdenum ditelluride

Layered transition metal dichalcogenides are emerging as key materials in nanoelectronics and energy applications. Predictive models to understand their growth, thermomechanical properties and interactions with metals are needed in order to accelerate their incorporation into commercial products. Interatomic potentials enable large-scale atomistic simulations at the device level, beyond the range of applications of first principle methods. We present a ReaxFF reactive force field to describe molybdenum ditelluride and its interactions with copper. We optimized the force field parameters to describe the properties of layered MoTe2 in various phases, the intercalation of Cu atoms and clusters within its van der Waals gap, including a proper description of energetics, charges and mechanical properties. The training set consists of an extensive set of first principle calculations computed from density functional theory. We use the force field to study the adhesion of a single layer MoTe2 on a Cu(111) surface and the results are in good agreement with density functional theory, even though such structures were not part of the training set. We characterized the mobility of the Cu ions intercalated into MoTe2 under the presence of an external electric fields via molecular dynamics simulations. The results show a significant increase in drift velocity for electric fields of approximately 0.4 V/A and that mobility increases with Cu ion concentration.Comment: 21 pages, 9 Figure

Moving ‘Beyond Neutrality’ and Cross-cultural Training: Using World Café Dialogue to Address End-of-life Care Inequalities

In this article I discuss how World Café Dialogues can be used to unveil structural and cultural violence that drive the behaviors that maintain end-of-life care inequalities, especially among minorities, in acute healthcare hospitals. Conflict practitioners are rarely included in conversations of end-of-life care inequalities and when included it is to “solve a problem” through bioethics mediation or provide training in cross-cultural competence. I argue that conflict practitioners need to broaden their approach to conflict and use their skills to surface unequal power structures and implicit beliefs that maintain the unjust status quo in end-of-life care disparities

The bias-extension test for the analysis of in-plane shear properties of textile composite reinforcements and prepregs: a review

The bias-extension test is a rather simple experiment aiming to determine in-plane shear properties of textile composite reinforcements. However the mechanics during the test involves fibrous material at large shear strains and large rotations of the fibres. Several aspects are still being studied and are not yet modeled in a consensual manner. The standard analysis of the test is based on two assumptions: inextensibility of the fibers and rotations at the yarn crossovers without slippage. They lead to the development of zones with constant fibre orientations proper to the bias-extension test. Beyond the analysis of the test within these basic assumptions, the paper presents studies that have been carried out on the lack of verification of these hypothesis (slippage, tension in the yarns, effects of fibre bending). The effects of temperature, mesoscopic modeling and tension locking are also considered in the case of the bias-extension test

Dependence of the Fundamental Plane Scatter on Galaxy Age

The fundamental plane (FP) has an intrinsic scatter that can not be explained purely by observational errors. Using recently available age estimates for nearby early type galaxies, we show that a galaxy's position relative to the FP depends on its age. In particular, the mean FP corresponds to ellipticals with an age of ~10 Gyr. Younger galaxies are systematically brighter with higher surface brightness relative to the mean relation. Old ellipticals form an `upper envelope' to the FP. For our sample of mostly non-cluster galaxies, age can account for almost half of the scatter in the B band FP. Distance determinations based on the FP may have a systematic bias, if the mean age of the sample varies with redshift. We also show that fundamental plane residuals, B-V colors and Mg_2 line strength are consistent with an ageing central burst superposed on an old stellar population. This reinforces the view that these age estimates are tracing the last major episode of star formation induced by a gaseous merger event. We briefly discuss the empirical `evolutionary tracks' of merger-remnants and young ellipticals in terms of their key observational parameters.Comment: 14 pages, Latex, 2 figures, accepted by ApJ Letter

Probing the Super Star Cluster Environment of NGC 1569 Using FISICA

We present near-IR JH spectra of the central regions of the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1569 using the Florida Image Slicer for Infrared Cosmology and Astrophysics (FISICA). The dust-penetrating properties and available spectral features of the near-IR, combined with the integral field unit (IFU) capability to take spectra of a field, make FISICA an ideal tool for this work. We use the prominent [He I] (1.083\mu m) and Pa\beta (1.282 \mu m) lines to probe the dense star forming regions as well as characterize the general star forming environment around the super star clusters (SSCs) in NGC 1569. We find [He I] coincident with CO clouds to the north and west of the SSCs, which provides the first, conclusive evidence for embedded star clusters here.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRA

The Bacterial Type III Secretion System as a Target for Developing New Antibiotics

Antibiotic resistance in pathogens requires new targets for developing novel antibacterials. The bacterial type III secretion system (T3SS) is an attractive target for developing antibacterials as it is essential in the pathogenesis of many Gram-negative bacteria. The T3SS consists of structural proteins, effectors and chaperones. Over 20 different structural proteins assemble into a complex nanoinjector that punctures a hole on the eukaryotic cell membrane to allow the delivery of effectors directly into the host cell cytoplasm. Defects in the assembly and function of the T3SS render bacteria non-infective. Two major classes of small molecules, salicylidene acylhydrazides and thiazolidinones, have been shown to inhibit multiple genera of bacteria through the T3SS. Many additional chemically and structurally diverse classes of small molecule inhibitors of the T3SS have been identified as well. While specific targets within the T3SS of a few inhibitors have been suggested, the vast majority of specific protein targets within the T3SS remain to be identified or characterized. Other T3SS inhibitors include polymers, proteins and polypeptides mimics. In addition, T3SS activity is regulated by its interaction with biologically relevant molecules, such as bile salts and sterols, which could serve as scaffolds for drug design