Growth Direction Research Articles

Amphiphilic Nanoscale Antifog Coatings: Improved Chemical Robustness by Continuous Assembly of Polymers.

Designing effective antifog coatings poses challenges in resisting physical and chemical damage, with persistent susceptibility to decomposition in aggressive environments. As their robustness is dictated by physicochemical structural features, precise control through unique fabrication strategies is crucial. To address this challenge, a novel method for crafting nanoscale antifog films with simultaneous directional growth and cross-linking is presented, utilizing solid-state continuous assembly of polymers via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ssCAPROMP). A new amphiphilic copolymer (specified as macrocross-linker) is designed by incorporating polydimethylsiloxane, poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl) trimethylammonium chloride (PMETAC), and polymerizable norbornene (NB) pendant groups, allowing ssCAPROMP to produce antifog films under ambient conditions. This novel approach results in distinctive surface and molecular characteristics. Adjusting water-absorption and nanoscale assembly parameters produced ultra-thin (≤100nm) antifog films with enhanced durability, particularly against strong acidic and alkaline environments, surpassing commercial antifog glasses. Thickness loss analysis against external disturbances further validated the stable surface-tethered chemistries introduced through ssCAPROMP, even with the incorporation of minimal content of cross-linkable NB moieties (5mol%). Additionally, a potential zwitter-wettability mechanism elucidates antifog observations. This work establishes a unique avenue for exploring nanoengineered antifog coatings through facile and robust surface chemistries.

Light-stabilized GIL1 suppresses PIN3 activity to inhibit hypocotyl gravitropism.

Light and gravity coordinately regulate the directional growth of plants. Arabidopsis Gravitropic in the Light 1 (GIL1) inhibits the negative gravitropism of hypocotyls in red and far-red light, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Our study found that GIL1 is a plasma membrane-localized protein. In endodermal cells of the upper part of hypocotyls, GIL1 controls the negative gravitropism of hypocotyls. GIL1 directly interacts with PIN3 and inhibits the auxin transport activity of PIN3. Mutation of PIN3 suppresses the abnormal gravitropic response of gil1 mutant. The GIL1 protein is unstable in darkness but it is stabilized by red and far-red light. Together, our data suggest that light-stabilized GIL1 inhibits the negative gravitropism of hypocotyls by suppressing the activity of the auxin transporter PIN3, thereby enhancing the emergence of young seedlings from the soil.

Study of regional characteristics of agricultural labor productivity: problems, trends, main directions of growth

Study of regional characteristics of agricultural labor productivity: problems, trends, main directions of growth

Laser Interference Additive Manufacturing: Mask Bundle Shape Bionic Shark Skin Structure.

Here, we explored a new manufacturing strategy that uses the mask laser interference additive manufacturing (MLIAM) technique, which combines the respective strengths of laser interference lithography and mask lithography to efficiently fabricate across-scales three-dimensional bionic shark skin structures with superhydrophobicity and adhesive reduction. The phenomena and mechanisms of the MLIAM curing process were revealed and analyzed, showing the feasibility and flexibility. In terms of structural performance, the adhesive force on the surface can be tuned based on the growth direction of the bionic shark skin structures, where the maximum rate of the adhesive reduction reaches about 65%. Furthermore, the evolution of the directional diffusion for the water droplet, which is based on the change of the contact angle, was clearly observed, and the mechanism was also discussed by the models. Moreover, no-loss transportations were achieved successfully using the gradient adhesive force and superhydrophobicity on the surface by tuning the growth direction and modifying by fluorinated silane. Finally, this work gives a strategy for fabricating across-scale structures on micro- and nanometers, which have potential application in bioengineering, diversional targeting, and condenser surface.

Research on the Quantum Confinement of Carriers in the type-I Quantum Wells Structure

Abstract Quantum confinement is recognized to be an inherent property in low-dimensional structures. Traditionally it is believed that the carriers trapped within the well cannot escape due to the discrete energy levels. However, our previous research has revealed efficient carrier escape in low-dimensional structures, contradicting this conventional understanding. In this study, we review the energy band structure of quantum wells along the growth direction considering it as a superposition of the bulk material dispersion and quantization energy dispersion resulting from the quantum confinement across the whole Brillouin zone. By accounting for all wave vectors, we obtain a certain distribution of carrier energy at each quantized energy level, giving rise to the energy subbands. These results enable carriers to escape from the well under the influence of an electric field. Additionally, we have compiled a comprehensive summary of various energy band scenarios in quantum well structures, relevant to carrier transport. Such a new interpretation holds significant value in deepening our comprehension of low-dimensional energy bands, discovering new physical phenomena, and designing novel devices with superior performance.

The impact of creative tourism on inclusive economic growth

The purpose of the article is to compile the author's characteristics of the values of inclusive tourism and creative development in an inclusive economy based on the analysis of international works of researchers, classification of the values of inclusive development and creative growth in the study of the influence of creative tourism on inclusive economic growth, to determine the level of priority indicators affecting economic growth, to determine the significance in the proportion of several indicators. The regulatory mechanisms necessary for the formation of the necessary level of creative tourism development in the study of development directions in inclusive economic growth are proposed. The relevance of the article lies in the fact that the dynamic development of tourism in the inclusive economic growth of the world's countries is becoming the main topic of research of the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development, the World Bank and the whole world. In this regard, since 2021, the Republic of Kazakhstan has also embarked on the development of creative tourism along an inclusive path towards a creative economy. During the research of the article, methods of analyzing various indicators of sustainability, arithmetic mean estimation of the studied indicators and the significance of their specific weight, economic and statistical analysis, generalization, comparison were used. In conclusion, the various effects of several indicators on overall sustainability are identified, the priority weight of inclusive indicators in the development of tourism is determined, through the results obtained, to propose integrated approaches as a means of integration and systematization in ensuring the necessary level in the development of tourism.

Microstructure and high-temperature tribological behaviours of nano-HfC reinforced Inconel 625 composite coating by Plasma-transferred arc welding

The study involved plasma arc transfer welding (PTAW) for preparing coatings of Inconel 625 alloys that contained different amounts of nano-sized hafnium carbide (nano-HfC) particles. The impact of nano-HfC on the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of PTAWed Inconel 625 were investigated. The research reveals that nano-HfC decomposes during the high-temperature plasma arc process and then react with O element to generate nano-HfO2. These HfO2 can serve as nucleation sites for MC carbides, which restricts the growth of secondary dendrite arms, leading to a more disordered grain growth direction. Simultaneously, the decomposition of HfC can increase the C/Nb ratio of the matrix, effectively suppressing Laves phase formation while encouraging the development of MC carbides. Compared with IN625, the wear rate of composites at room temperature and 600°C were decreased. Notably, at 600°C, the wear rate of the coating with 0.5 wt% HfC is the lowest among all the samples, as reflected by a noteworthy reduction in wear rate of 50%. This is mainly attributed to the refinement of γ matrix, reduction of Laves phase as well as precipitation of the fine-sized MC carbides. This work illustrates that adding nano-HfC is an effective way to improve the wear resistance of the PTAWed Inconel 625.

Weakening the mechanical property anisotropy of additively manufactured medium entropy alloy by controlling the cellular structure

Cellular structure is a unique microstructure characteristic of the additively manufactured face-centered cubic phase metallic materials. It typically grows preferentially along the temperature gradient, leading to anisotropy in mechanical properties and restricting the practical application. Herein, we adopted a discontinuous laser scanning strategy for fabricating the face-centered cubic FeCrNi alloy. The scanning layer is divided into nine discontinuous equal-width regions along which the laser beam prints discontinuously. This strategy can increase the temperature gradient in the melt pool by weakening the thermal influence between the adjacent scanning regions, which helps to suppress cellular structure growth along the temperature gradient. Compared with the sample prepared by the conventional continuous laser scanning strategy, the sample printed using the discontinuous laser scanning strategy exhibits finer cellular structures with a significantly shorter length along the growth direction, and the anisotropy of mechanical properties is weakened. The in-plane anisotropy of ultimate tensile strength decreases from 21.6 to 6.4. This study presents a novel approach to optimize the mechanical properties of additively manufactured face-centered cubic phase metallic materials.

Fabrication of multifunctional polyimide foams with co-polymerized benzimidazole moieties for excellent thermal insulation and flame retardancy applications

In this study, heterocyclic diamine 2-(4-aminophenyl)-5-aminobenzimidazole (APBIA) was employed as a co-polymerization component to improve the properties of polyimide foams (PIFs) which were synthesized from 3,3′,4,4′-benzophenone tetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (BTDA) and 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl ether (ODA). The rheological behavior of polyester ammonium salt (PEAS) precursors was regulated by introducing APBIA moieties to the chain backbones, which affected the foaming behavior of PEAS and the microstructure of corresponding PIFs. Anisotropic porous structure was constructed with the help of microwave-assisted foaming strategy due to the directional growth of foam pores, which led to anisotropic mechanical and thermal insulation performance of resultant PIFs. PIFs demonstrated robust mechanical performance in the vertical direction (i.e., parallel to pore growth direction) and mechanical flexibility (compression response rate of 97.1∼99.0%) in the horizontal direction (i.e., perpendicular to the pore growth direction). The co-polymerized PIFs also presented excellent thermal insulation performance, with thermal conductivity ranging from 0.0266 to 0.0517 W/(m·K) within a temperature range of 25∼300°C. In addition, PIFs exhibited exceptional thermal stability and flame retardancy performance, which demonstrate a great potential for high-temperature thermal protection applications. To summarize, multifunctional PIFs with excellent mechanical, thermal insulation and flame retardancy were successfully prepared by adopting co-polymerization strategy and microwave-assisted foaming technique, which have promising applications in high-end engineering sectors.

In Ukrainian

The paper describes the method of obtaining the SiC/porous-Si/Si heterostructure and the study of its structural and morphological properties. The method of obtaining heterostructures consisted of several stages: electrochemical etching of single-crystal silicon p-Si (111), annealing of porous Si in a CO atmosphere. The fabricated structures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray spectral microanalysis, X-ray phase analysis, high-resolution diffractometry, X-ray reflectometry, and photoluminescence. The method of high-resolution diffractometry made it possible to assess the state of the SiC/Si(001) system. On the 2Theta-omega diffractograms, in addition to the (111) reflection of the Si substrate in the region of 2 Theta = 35.67, the (111) reflection of the cubic SiC film is observed. This means that the formed SiC film is textured in the (111) growth direction of the silicon substrate. The classical technique of X-ray phase analysis showed the presence of a hexagonal phase in the SiC film. The concentration ratio of cubic to hexagonal phase is 80 % cubic and 20 % hexagonal. The RMS deformation of the lattice (ε) in such a structure is ε = 1∙10–2. The photoluminescence spectra of the SiC films of the experimental samples in most cases consist of narrow and broad bands and extend from the near ultraviolet to the entire visible spectrum. At the same time, in the range of wavelengths corresponding to the energy forbidden zones of hexagonal polytypes and cubic polytypes, a noticeable glow was observed in most of the samples. In some samples, luminescence in the area of hexagonal phases was predominant. In the photoluminescence spectra both at T = 77 K and at T = 300 K, a narrow line at a wavelength of ~ 371 nm is observed.

Investigation of BRAF V600E Mutation in Breast Cancer Patients

The B-Raf is the essential protein in signal pathways inside cells which is affected by cell growth direction. The B-Raf protein encoded by the BRAF gene that is located at chromosome 7, BRAF gene is also pointed out as proto-oncogene. This study aimed to detect the substitution at codon 600 causing a change of valine to glutamic acid (V600E) mutation in Iraqi females to assist its role in initiating breast cancer. Sixty biopsies tissue from breast cancer Iraqi women and 20 women with benign lesions were enrolled in this study. DNA was extracted from breast cancer biopsies samples. PCR and DNA Sequencing techniques were used to screen the BRAF V600E gene mutation as it is an essential event in the initiation of cancer. The results revealed that none Iraqi breast cancer women had BRAF V600E mutation, The annotated BRAF gene has been deposited in DDBJ/GenBank under the accession number LC547435. In conclusion: The present data indicate no BRAF V600E mutation in Iraqi breast cancer females and may not possess a role in breast cancer initiation. The current results may be refer to ineffectiveness of Vemurafenib and Encorafenib therapies that specific for patients with the BRAF V600 mutation. Other studies with large numbers of patients are needed to confirm the result of this study, as the high prevalence of breast cancer among Iraqi women.

Growth and transition of dendrites in steel strands under different electromagnetic stirring methods

In the industrial continuous casting process, some central defects such as shrinkage cavity, porosity, segregation and crack are generated especially at the final solidification zone of steel strands because of the poor fluidity and feeding ability of molten steel in the center of strand, especially for the special steel strand. In this paper, a new type of vertical linear electromagnetic stirring (V-LEMS) was proposed to apply in the casting of Incoloy 825 alloy ingot and investigate the growth and transition of dendrites, distribution of Ti in the special steel, and compare its effect with the generally conventional industrial rotary electromagnetic stirring (R-EMS). The results shown that the growth direction of primary dendrite under R-EMS is perpendicular to the mold wall, but the primary dendrite growth under V-LEMS have present an upstream dendrite growth state. It proves that the V-LEMS can generate a longitudinal circulation convection in the height direction of ingot, which can strengthen the temperature and composition mixing of the upper and lower melts of the ingot and promote the homogenization of the overall melt temperature and composition. The radial macrosegregation of Ti under V-LEMS is slightly higher than that of R-EMS, but R-EMS tends to increase the longitudinal macrosegregation of Ti element. The longitudinal macrosegregation degree of Ti element under V-LEMS is less than that without EMS and with R-EMS. V-LEMS makes the longitudinal distribution of Ti element in Incoloy 825 alloy ingot more uniform. The research results give some beneficial suggestions for improving the central quality of special steel continuous casting billet.

Epitaxial growth of GaInAsBi thin films on Si (001) substrate using pulsed laser deposition

The results of a comprehensive study of growing a Ga1-yInyAs1-xBix quaternary alloy on a Si (001) substrate, determining the composition, studying structural properties, relaxation mechanisms and surface morphology are presented. Using pulsed laser deposition, epitaxial growth of the Ga1-yInyAs1-xBix thin film was carried out on the Si (001) substrate. Using X-ray diffraction, it was established that the Ga1-yInyAs1-xBix film was grown with a large lattice mismatch (Δa/a = 7.838 %). It is shown that the film has a well-pronounced texture in the [001] growth direction, a lattice parameter of 5.856 Å. Using Medium Energy Ion Scattering, a decrease in the In concentration after a layer thickness ≈15 nm from 0.5 to 0.4 mol frac. was detected. An important result is the homogeneous distribution of Bi throughout the layer thickness. Structural studies allow for the conclusion that stress relaxation occurred because of shears by means of a nucleation of dislocations and a slip close-packed {111} planes, as well as twinning, which led to a change in composition after a thickness of ≈15 nm from the substrate and an increase in the surface roughness of the layer.

RING/U-box E3 protein BIR1 interacts with and ubiquitinates barley growth repressor BROAD LEAF1.

Establishment of final leaf size in plants relies on the precise regulation of two interconnected processes, cell division and cell expansion. The barley (Hordeum vulgare) protein BROAD LEAF1 (BLF1) limits cell proliferation and leaf growth in the width direction. However, how the levels of this potent repressor of leaf growth are controlled remains unclear. Here we used a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify the BLF1-INTERACTING RING/U-BOX 1 (BIR1) E3 ubiquitin ligase that interacts with BLF1 and confirmed the interaction of the two proteins in planta. Inhibiting the proteasome caused overaccumulation of a BLF1-eGFP fusion protein when co-expressed with BIR1, and an in vivo ubiquitination assay in bacteria confirmed that BIR1 can mediate ubiquitination of BLF1 protein. Consistent with regulation of endogenous BLF1 in barley by proteasomal degradation, inhibition of the proteasome in BLF1-vYFP-expressing barley plants caused an accumulation of the BLF1 protein. The BIR1 protein co-localized with BLF1 in nuclei and appeared to reduce BLF1 protein levels. Analysis of bir1-1 knock-out mutants suggested the involvement of BIR1 in leaf growth control, although mainly on leaf length. Together, our results suggest that proteasomal degradation, in part mediated by BIR1, helps fine-tune BLF1 protein levels in barley.

Hybrid equilibrium formulation with adaptive element side orientation for cohesive crack prediction

AbstractThe present article proposes an hybrid equilibrium element (HEE) formulation for the prediction of cohesive fracture formation and propagation with the crack modelled by extrinsic interface embedded at element sides. The hybrid equilibrium element formulation can model high order (quadratic, cubic and quartic) stress fields which strongly satisfy homogeneous equilibrium equations, inter‐element and boundary equilibrium equations. The HEE can implicitly model both the initially rigid behaviour of an extrinsic interface and its debonding condition with separation displacement and softening. The extrinsic interface is embedded at the element sides and its behaviour is governed by means of the same degrees of freedom of HEE (generalized stresses), without any additional degree of freedom. The proposed extrinsic cohesive model is developed in the thermodynamic framework of damage mechanics. The proposed crack propagation criterion states that crack grows when the maximum principal stress reaches the tensile strength value, in a direction orthogonal to the principal stress direction. The crack is embedded at an element side and the mesh around crack tip is adapted, by rotation of the element sides, in order to have the interface aligned to the crack growth direction. Three classic two‐dimensional problems of fracture propagation are numerically reproduced and the results compared to the experimental data or to the other numerical results.

Effect of Printing Orientation on the Mechanical Properties of 3D-Printed Cu–10Sn Alloys by Laser Powder Bed Fusion Technology

This article focuses on investigating the effect of printing direction on the mechanical properties of Cu–10Sn alloys prepared by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology. Specimens with different forming angles (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°) were fabricated using LPBF technology, and their mechanical properties were systematically tested. During the testing process, we used an Instron 5985 electronic universal material testing machine to accurately evaluate the mechanical properties of the material at a constant strain rate of 10−3/s. The experimental results showed that the mechanical properties of the specimens were the best when the test direction was perpendicular to the growth direction (i.e., the 0° direction). As the angle between the test direction and the growth direction increased, the mechanical properties of the material exhibited a trend of first decreasing, then increasing, and then decreasing again, which was consistent with the direction of the microtexture of the specimens. The root cause of this trend lies in the significant change in the stress direction borne by the columnar crystals under different load directions. Specifically, as the load direction gradually transitions from being parallel to the columnar crystals to perpendicular to them, the stress direction of the columnar crystals also shifts from the radial direction to the axial direction. Due to the differences in the number and strength of grain boundaries in different stress directions, this directly leads to changes in mechanical properties. In particular, when the specimen is loaded in the radial direction of the columnar crystals, the grain boundary density is higher, and these grain boundaries provide greater resistance during dislocation migration, thus significantly hindering tensile deformation and enabling the material to exhibit superior tensile properties. Among all the tested angles, the laser powder bed fusion specimen with a forming angle of 0° exhibited the best mechanical properties, with a tensile strength of 723 MPa, a yield strength of 386 MPa, and an elongation of 33%. In contrast, the specimen with a forming angle of 90° performed the worst in terms of tensile properties. These findings provide important insights for us to deeply understand the mechanical properties of Cu–10Sn alloys prepared by LPBF.

Dielectric ultracapacitors based on columnar nano-grained ferroelectric oxide films with gradient phases along the growth direction

Dielectric ultracapacitors based on columnar nano-grained ferroelectric oxide films with gradient phases along the growth direction

Directional Growth and Density Modulation of Single-Atom Platinum for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Dispersion of single atoms (SAs) in the host is important for optimizing catalytic activity. Herein, we propose a novel strategy to tune oxygen vacancies in CeO2-X directionally anchoring the single atom platinum (PtSA), which is uniformly dispersed on the rGO. The catalyst's performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can be enhanced by controlling different densities of CeO2-X in rGO. The PtSA performs best optimally densified and loaded on homogeneous and moderately densified CeO2-X/rGO (PtSA-M-CeO2-X/rGO). It exhibited high activity in HER with an overpotential of 25 mV at 0.5 M H2SO4 and 33 mV at 1 KOH than that of almost reported electrocatalysts. Furthermore, it exhibited stability for 90 hours at -100 mA cm-2 in 1 KOH and -150 mA cm-2 in 0.5 M H2SO4 conditions, respectively. Through comprehensive experiments and theoretical calculations, the suitable dispersion density of PtSA on the defects of CeO2-X with more active sites gives the potential for practical applications. This research paves the way for developing single-atom catalysts with exceptional catalytic activity and stability, holding promise in advanced green energy conversion through defects engineering.

Music Beats - A Music Recommendation System using Facial Expressions

Abstract: Interest in the nexus between music recommendation systems and affective computing has grown recently. This article examines the state of the art in music recommendation systems that use facial expression analysis to improve customer satisfaction. Facial expression detection has been incorporated into computer vision and machine learning systems, opening up new possibilities for personalized music curating. The basic theories and techniques supporting facial expression analysis in the context of emotional computing are first examined in this study. It explores the developments in emotion identification technology, emphasizing important datasets, algorithms, and their advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, this research assesses how well these systems capture user preferences while resolving issues with scalability, accuracy, and privacy. It talks about the effects on user satisfaction and engagement of using facial expressions as a channel for feedback in recommendation systems. In order to improve and develop facial expression-based music recommendation systems, this paper concludes by outlining future directions and possible research routes and highlighting the necessity of multidisciplinary cooperation between computer science, psychology, and musicology. To sum up, this paper offers a thorough analysis of the current state-of-the-art in facial expression-driven music recommendation systems, outlining their innovations, difficulties, and potential directions for growth of multidisciplinary cooperation between computer science, psychology, and musicology

Directional growth of iron oxide nanowires on a vicinal copper surface

Single-crystal magnetic nanostructures with well-defined shapes attract lots of interest due to their potential applications in magnetic and spintronic devices. However, development of methods allowing controlling their mutual crystallographic and geometric orientation constitutes a significant scientific challenge. One of the routes for obtaining such structures is to grow the materials epitaxially on naturally-structured supports, such as vicinal surfaces of single-crystal substrates. Iron oxides are among the most well-known magnetic materials which, depending on the phase, may exhibit ferro/ferri- or antiferromagnetic ordering. We have grown iron oxide nanowires on a Cu(410) single-crystal substrate faceted with molecular oxygen. Scanning tunneling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction revealed that the oxide grows in the [111] direction, along the step edges of the substrate and rotated by ±15° with respect to the [010] direction of copper atomic terraces (so that the the growing elongated structures are orientated parallel to each other). Notably, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that the nanowires represent the ferrimagnetic γ-Fe2O3 (maghemite) iron oxide phase, while micromagnetic simulations indicated that the wires are single-domain, with the easy magnetization axis orientated in-plane and along the long axis of the wire.