Egg-like Structure Research Articles

Phenology, morphological, and anatomical characteristics of a stinkhorn mushroom in Ghana

The genus Phallus is a member of the group commonly known as stinkhorn fungi belonging to the family: Phallaceae and Order: Phallales. They are distributed in tropical areas of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas but are rarely reported in Ghana. During the recent minor rainy season (September-December 2022) an undocumented member of the Phallales was found in a rock garden located in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. The subterranean basidioma developed from an egg-like structure, single or gregarious with a thick gelatinous peridium. The primordium was oval/spherical, or ellipsoidal in shape; initially hypogeous becoming epigeous in the habit by maturity; is 4.0-5.0 cm in diameter, creamy to grayish cream with age. Within 48-72 h, the egg broke to expose the pink-colored stalk, sponge, or reticulate with rounded greyish-dark green cap carrying smooth-walled slimy ellipsoidal basidiospores (2 - 5μm) with a fetid rotten smell. Within 2 - 4 h of the emergence of cap, it was depleted of the ellipsoidal spores by foraging bluish-green bottle flies. The transverse section of the columnar stipe (5.0 - 8.0 cm long) showed a hollow orifice serving as the passage of basidiospores in the glebal mass. Occasionally, there was a division of the stipe at the cap to show two distinct stipes and caps from the same volva of the basidioma. The pileus was campanulate (bell-shaped), 2-3cm high dark green in color with vertical granular markings, and rounded to hemispheric in shape. Dark-green basidiospores besmear the cap with slimy glebal mass. These descriptions agree with no known penis-shaped morphology of the Phallus species with a prominent basal volva 2.0 - 3.5 cm high.

EROS AT JUNNAR: RECONSIDERING A PIECE OF MEDITERRANEAN ART

In 1969 on a riverside near the Lenyardi caves (about 5 kilometres from present-day Junnar, in the Indian state of Maharashtra), Dr Satish Deshmukh discovered an alabaster object in the form of half an egg (longitudinally cut) with a young male child lying inside it (with small traces of red paint on the right side of the object). This high-quality oval object (figures 1 and 2) measures about 5 cm × 3.4 cm and is usually interpreted as an item that was originally manufactured in the Mediterranean world before being brought to India, rather than a piece of artwork produced in India itself. One possible, and largely accepted, interpretation is that this figure represents the birth of the god Eros. However, identification of the figure within the egg-like structure is not easily made. While the figure does bear similarities to the putto-style representation of Eros in instances of Greek and Roman art, it does not possess any clear identifying features (such as the wings with which Eros is often depicted). The figure's resemblance to Eros in some of his other iconographic depictions and the egg-like structure around him suggest a possible identification of this infant with Eros and the myth of his birth from an egg. However, without evidence from other iconography of a more clearly identifiable Eros in similar contexts, the figure cannot be said to be him with any certainty. As Dhavalikar notes, this object ‘is the only one of its kind among the classical antiquities so far found in the Indian subcontinent and perhaps has no parallel in the classical world’. Thus the identification of this sculpture as a depiction of Eros in the egg is possible, but not certain.

Si@Si3N4@C composite with egg-like structure as high-performance anode material for lithium ion batteries

Si-based anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIB) suffer huge volume changes during the charge–discharge cycling. Employing buffer materials to restrain the volume effect is important for these alloy-mechanism materials. In this work, we present a composite with an egg-like structure (denoted as Si@Si3N4@C) prepared by a two-step gas–solid reaction. The nanosized Si core exhibits high capacity. The highly strong and tough Si3N4 intermediate layer acts as a structural buffer, and the Li+ conductive layer accommodates volume variations and facilitates ion transport. The highly graphitized carbon shell enhances the integral conductivity. Consequently, the proposed composite can deliver a high first discharge capacity of 3093.8 mAh g−1 with an initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 91.51%. More than 80% capacity retention (vs. 2nd discharge) is observed after 200 cycles; when discharged at 10 A g−1, a capacity of 881 mAh g−1 is still displayed. The influence of the Si3N4 intermediate layer on Li+ diffusion is studied first, and the overall lithium-ion solid diffusion coefficient (DLi+) of the egg-like structure composite is found to be 8.111 × 10−11 cm2 s−1, which is approximately 300 times higher than that of Si, indicating a significant increase in Li+ diffusion. The probable reason is discussed and presented.

Hollow core–shell-structured Si–C composites as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Hollow core–shell-structured SiO@void@C composites were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition with acetylene gas, and they could be applied as anode materials for lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries. In addition, this structure was designed to accommodate the volume expansion during lithiation for high-performance Li-ion battery anodes. The structures and morphologies of the synthesized composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), from which an egg-like structure was observed due to the deposition of carbon layers on the SiO surface. A void space between the particles and the shell was formed as well. The electrochemical tests of the as-prepared samples indicated that high capacity (1780mAh/g at first cycle) and high Coulombic efficiency (50 cycles with 99.84%) were achieved in this core–shell structured SiO electrode. Therefore, the core–shell SiO/C nanocomposite exhibits better electrochemical performance than pure SiO nanoparticles, indicating that it is a promising material to improve the cyclability and kinetics of nano-anode materials for Li-ion batteries.

Generation of conical and spherical second harmonics in three-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals with radial symmetry

Two types of radially symmetric three-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals with the cylindrical structure and the egglike structure are proposed, from which the conical and the spherical quadratic harmonic waves can be produced, respectively, by three-dimensional quasi-phase matching. First, the cylindrical structures with periodic and aperiodic modulations of the nonlinear coefficient are both studied, showing their significant advantages compared to the corresponding two-dimensional structures. The dependencies of the transverse and the longitudinal phase-matching periods on harmonic propagating directions are also calculated and analyzed. Then, the egglike structure is designed by programming and the distribution of reciprocal vectors is presented, indicating its ability to generate the spherical harmonic as a point light source. The investigation of the intensity distribution on the spherical wavefront is also performed, showing its strong dependence on the harmonic polarization and the quadratic nonlinear coefficients.

Synthesis and performance of novel magnetically separable nanospheres of titanium dioxidephotocatalyst with egg-like structure

A magnetically separable photocatalystTiO2/SiO2/NiFe2O4 (TSN) nanosphere with egg-like structure was prepared by a unique process that combineda liquid catalytic phase transformation method, reverse micelle technique and chemicalprecipitation means. The prepared photocatalyst shows high photocatalytic activity for thedegradation of methyl orange in water. The magnetic property measurements indicate thatthe photocatalyst possesses a superparamagnetic nature. It can be separated from waterwhen an external magnetic field is added and redispersed into water solution after theexternal magnetic field is eliminated. It is one of the promising photocatalystsfor wastewater treatment. A transmission electron microscope (TEM) and anx-ray diffractometer (XRD) were used to characterize the structure of the TSNphotocatalyst. The results indicate that nickel ferrite core nanoparticles were completelyencapsulated into monodisperse silica nanospheres as carrier, and titania nanoparticleaggregates were coated onto the surface of SN nanospheres, forming an imperfectTiO2 shell forphotocatalysis. The SiO2 layer between the NiFe2O4 core and the TiO2 shell effectively prevents the injection of charges fromTiO2 particlesto NiFe2O4, which gives rise to an increase in photocatalytic activity. Moreover, the recycled TSNexhibits good repeatability of the photocatalytic activity.

Successful treatment of photo-damaged skin of nano-scale atRA particles using a novel transdermal delivery

We show a novel drug delivery system (DDS) for improved all- trans retinoic acid (atRA) therapy for external treatments of photo-damaged skin. We prepared inorganic-coated atRA nanoparticles, in turn an egg-like structure in nano-scale (Nano-atRA), using boundary-organized reaction droplets. The interfacial properties of organic architectures, in atRA micelles, were used to template the nucleation of inorganic minerals. As a result, irritation and inflammation associated with atRA therapy were substantially reduced due to the complete encapsulation of the carboxylic function. Both irritative symptoms and physicochemical instability of the atRA micelle were improved. Since Nano-atRA which is prepared following to this new DDS system developmentally improved the permeability to the stratum corneum, the remarkable pharmacological effects were resulted in comparison with atRA as such as follows: (1) thicker epidermis than classical atRA treatment and (2) the overexpression of mRNA for heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) as the provocation epidermal hyperplasia. Furthermore, we found a surprising boost in production of hyaluronan (HA) among the intercellular spaces of the basal and spinous cell layers in epidermis. Nano-atRA technology for atRA therapy could not only efficiently regulate keratinocyte cell proliferation and differentiation, but also markedly produce the additional benefit. Severely injured human skin by chronic ultraviolet irradiation will completely repair due to the accelerated turnover of skin tissue, which is induced by Nano-atRA.

MORPHOLOGY OF TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA, WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SINGLE INTEGUMENT, NATURE OF SYNERGIDAE, AND AFFINITIES OF THE MENISPERMACEAE

The gynoecium of Tinospora cordifolia consists of 3-6 spirally arranged carpels. When the number is more than three, the last carpel is frequently abortive. Two ovules differentiate at first in each carpel, but later the lower is suppressed. The functional ovule is amphitropous, has only one integument, and is closely pressed inside the carpel. The nucellus shows an epidermal cap. The development of the embryo-sac is quite normal. The synergidae frequently show egg-like structure. The nuclei of the antipodals show a tendency toward division. The single integument appears to have resulted from the fusion of two in the chalazal and suppression of the inner in the micropylar part. The synergidae are of the same nature as the egg. The family Menispermaceae is more closely related to the Ranunculaceae than to the Magnoliaceae.