Multilayer Character Research Articles

Upcycling of easy separated Casuarina equisetifolia fruit waste as a biosorbent: tailoring the surface modification to enhance selective removal of cationic dye or simultaneously removal of cationic and anionic dyes

This study aimed at the valorization of the abundant and underutilized Casuarina equisetifolia fruit waste (CEFW) biomass as an intact easily separable biosorbent for the treatment of dye-polluted water. The intact CEFW was chemically modified to improve its selective biosorption of MB, or to simultaneously remove MB and MO. H2O2 treatment increased the surface functional groups, created pores, and enhanced the selective biosorption of MB. CTAB treatment introduced quaternary ammonium groups and enabled the simultaneously removal of MB and MO. The biosorption of MB by H2O2-treated CEFW was optimum at pH 6 and increased with the mass of the biosorbent. The pH can be adjusted to enhance the biosorption efficiency of the CTAB-treated CEFW toward MB or MO. pH 6 achieves balanced simultaneous removal of MB and MO. The kinetic and isotherm studies revealed that electrostatic interactions and chemisorption dominate the biosorption process which has multilayer character. The single and binary isotherm studies demonstrated that the co-existence of MB and MO enhances their removal. Overall, the modification of the CEFW can be tuned to remove anionic, cationic dyes or both simultaneously and synergistically. The low-cost and easy separation nominate the application of the intact CEFW for dyes removal from polluted water.

“Two choruses on H. Skovoroda’s poems” by Vitalii Kyreiko: conductor’s concept

The purpose of the study provides a conductor’s concept of “Two choruses on H. Skovoroda’s poems” by Vitalii Kyreiko creating process coverage.
 The methodology. Methodological principles are based on the historicism, genre-stylistic, intonation-dramaturgical and interpretive types of analysis, that are used to create a conductor’s concept of “Two choruses on H. Skovoroda’s poems” by Vitalii Kyreiko.
 The results. The development of the conductor’s concept is a process that covers worldview, analytical and creative-executive systemic levels. A conductor-choirmaster, first of all, must understand the artistic idea due to which V. Kyreiko combined the national philosopher’s poems into a choral diptych. In the first chorus “Ah, the fields” (“Akh, polia”), the essence of H. Skovoroda’s pantheistic doctrine is revealed, enriched with choral means of expression: sound imagery, antiphons between female and male choirs, nominal “dialogues”, a combination of diatonicism and tart, rich harmonies with a dynamic pastel palette. As a result, it creates an image of the Eden Garden, where the hero finds peace and happiness. The second chorus of the diptych “Seeing this life’s woes” (“Vydia zhytiya seho ya hore”) represents the hero’s difficult path to God and to understanding His mercy. The composer creates an artistic sound image due to monody, ostinato, sound imagery, multi-layer character, symbolism, textural and stroke diversity, contrasting dynamics and pleading intonations, the origins of which are found in a national folklore. Two choruses by V. Kyreiko on the H. Skovoroda’s texts, while revealing the spiritual meaning of the brilliant Ukrainian philosopher’s poems, receive features of the neo-baroque style due to the introduction into the XX century’s sound-space of the XVIII century’s poetic heritage, and rhetorical figures (symbols of the Baroque era) introduction into the musical canvas of the choral works. The chorus “Seeing this life’s woes” contains a Renaissance opposition: despair — hope, and chorus “Ah, the fields” represents the beauty cult, which gives the choral diptych Neo-Renaissance features.
 Despite the genre and figurative contrasts of these compositions (choral miniature-scenery and dramatic monologue), let’s emphasize the common features between the choral work by V. Kyreiko and the poetic primary source, which directs the development of choral dramaturgy. The use of couplets as a song carrier, which follows the structure of H. Skovoroda’s poems-songs, appears developed and enriched. The movement acceleration is facilitated by the comparison of sections in chorus “Seeing this life’s woes”, which are built according to the contrast principle, and concert baroque style in chorus “Ah, the fields”. In the choral compositions’ finales, the rhythmic and harmonic unity of the choral array reaches the highest culmination and provides “Two choruses on H. Skovoroda’s poems” with a logical completion in the disclosure of the artistic content. A conductor’s concept of Skovoroda’s diptych by V. Kyreiko represents two Worlds: Eearthly and Heavenly, where the renewal of the hero’s soul, the search for a path to happiness in harmony with nature and hope for God’s mercy and salvation in the highest world take place. This concept must be realized in the choir performance interpretation under the choirmaster’s direction.
 The scientific novelty. The scientific novelty lies in the conductor’s concept of “Two choruses on H. Skovoroda’s poems” by V. Kyreiko development, which will contribute to its realization in choral reproduction.
 The practical significance. The obtained results’ practical significance is determined by the need to find a conductor’s concept for an adequate composer’s intention interpretation.

Ag-Se/Nylon Nanocomposites Grown by Template-Engaged Reaction: Microstructures, Composition, and Optical Properties.

Ag–Se nanostructure films were deposited on a–Se/nylon templates by a template-engaged reaction. Firstly, amorphous selenium (a–Se) was deposited on nylon by employing the chemical bath deposition method while using H2SeO3 and Na2SO3 solutions with an increasing selenium deposition time. Then, these a–Se/nylon templates were exposed into AgNO3 solution at ambient temperature and pressure. The Ag–Se/nylon nanocomposites surface morphology, elemental and phase composition, and optical properties were monitored depending on the selenium deposition time on nylon. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis confirmed the development of a very complex surface composed of pyramidal-like sub-micron structures, agglomerates, and grid-like structures. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) proved the presence of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, selenium, and silver. SEM/EDS cross-sectional analysis confirmed the multilayer character with different individual elemental composition in each film layer. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed a polycrystalline Ag2Se phase with or without metallic Ag. The RMS value obtained from atomic force microscopy varies from 25.82 nm to 57.04 nm. From the UV-Vis spectrophotometry, the direct optical band gaps were found to be 1.68–1.86 eV. Ag–Se/nylon composites exhibit high refractive indices in the near infrared region.

Legal Aspects of Geothermal Energy Use in Poland

Geothermal energy, understood as the energy stored in the form of heat beneath the earth’s surface, is one of the types of renewable energy sources. In Poland, geothermal energy is the renewable energy source with the highest technical potential, which results from the fact that there are natural sedimentation-structure basins in Poland, filled with hot underground waters of various temperatures. One of the basic factors determining the potential development of undertakings oriented at the use of geothermal energy is the legal environment, understood as a system of legal regulations relating to human activity connected with the use of geothermal energy. The subject of this study is the analysis of legal conditions for ventures geared towards geothermal energy exploration, documentation, and extraction. In Poland there is no uniform legal act regulating these issues in a comprehensive way. The provisions of the Geological and Mining Law and the Water Law, but also the provisions of the Construction Law, Environmental Protection Law, Energy Law, and Renewable Energy Sources Act apply to the analysed projects. The complexity and multilayer character of legal regulations determines the multitude of legal procedures reflecting the regulatory function of the state, realised through the system of concessions, permits, permissions, and approvals. The aim of this study is to present the legal regulations applicable in Poland relating to the use of geothermal energy, and to analyse the level of rationing of activities undertaken in this field.

ЛІНГВОКУЛЬТУРНИЙ ПІДХІД ДО ВИВЧЕННЯ МОВИ ТА КОГНІТИВНА ЛІНГВІСТИКА ЯК ПРОВІДНІ ПАРАДИГМИ СУЧАСНОГО МОВОЗНАВСТВА

Modern linguistics regards language as a social phenomenon closely connected with the culture and history of a particular people. The focus is on the identity of the native speaker, which is revealed through the study of the human language, reflects the spiritual essence, motivation and value hierarchy existing in the mind of the native speaker. Cognitive linguistics examines the mental processes that occur during perception, comprehension, knowledge of reality by consciousness, as well as the types and forms of their mental representations. It is included as an integral part of cognitology – the integral science of cognitive processes in the mind of a person, providing operational thinking and knowledge of the world. The article summarizes theoretical data concerning the conceptual apparatus of cognitive linguistics in modern language studies, defines the basic concept of cognitive linguistics – the concept, focuses on its multilayer character, evaluates the proposals on the methods for its classification and analysis.

Microstructure of Ti/Al multilayer foils ignited with electric current

Abstract Magnetron sputtered Ti/Al freestanding multilayer foils were treated with an electric current pulse of 0.5 A or 4 A for ∼1 s in order to initiate a self-sustaining high-temperature synthesis. Scanning electron microscopy observations showed that the sample treated with 0.5 A is characterized by the presence of periodic rippled bands, while the 4 A one has a nearly unaffected shape. Transmission electron microscopy experiments revealed that the microstructure of Ti/Al foil ignited with 0.5 A consists of large equiaxed grains of γ-TiAl phase and alternating plates of γ-TiAl + α2-Ti3Al phases, carrying vestiges of their initial multilayer character, while the 4 A treatment resulted in the formation of a duplex microstructure.

ASSESSMENT OF SEAWATER INTRUSION IN FUSHE KUQE AQUIFER, ALBANIA

The Fushë Kuqe costal aquifer is a typical confined alluvial aquifer. The aquifer medium consists of alternating and discontinuous layers of gravel and sand-gravel with and silt-clay impermeable layers which have conditioned its multilayer character. The aquifer recharge occurs mainly through water infiltration from the Mat river in the North, and from Droja river in the South, while its natural discharge proceeds to the Adriatic sea. As from the variation of chloride and TDS content in groundwater, an advancement of sea water intrusion into aquifer fresh water was evidenced. The direction of sea water wedge from coastal southwestern sectors towards the Gorre and Fushe Kuqe where pumping station are located, favors the opinion that it was caused by a decrease of groundwater pressure due to the groundwater pumping. The increase of chloride content in groundwater through time confirms that sea water intrusion towards the fresh aquifer water is still ad-vancing and is caused by both intensification of groundwater pumping for public water supply and by the drilling of artesian private wells.

Influence of graphene growth temperature by chemical vapour deposition on the hydrogen response of palladium–graphene junction

The hydrogen sensing by palladium-graphene junction was dependent on the atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition growth temperature of the graphene films. The growth temperature window adopted in this study was 900–1000 °C, and the hydrogen sensor performance of the palladium–graphene junction (0.5–2.0% H2 in air) was studied in the temperature range 30–150 °C. Raman spectroscopy study with the as grown graphene films revealed the multilayer nature and the Pd–graphene planar structure showed a temperature dependent n- to p-type conductivity change in presence of hydrogen. Such a conductivity transition in presence of a reducing gas like hydrogen was experimentally studied in detail, and the hydrogen sensor results were correlated with the multilayer character of the graphene thin film, which induces hydrogen intercalation between the graphene layers.

A Global Multilayer Cloud Identification with POLDER/PARASOL

AbstractThe detection of multilayer cloud situations is important for satellite retrieval algorithms and for many climate-related applications. In this paper, the authors describe an algorithm based on the exploitation of the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth’s Reflectance (POLDER) observations to identify monolayered and multilayered cloudy situations along with a confidence index. The authors’ reference comes from the synergy of the active instruments of the A-Train satellite constellation. The algorithm is based upon a decision tree that uses a metric from information theory and a series of tests on POLDER level-2 products. The authors obtain a multilayer flag as the final result of a tree classification, which takes discrete values between 0 and 100. Values closest to 0 (100) indicate a higher confidence in the monolayer (multilayer) character. This indicator can be used as it is or with a threshold level that minimizes the risk of misclassification, as a binary index to distinguish between monolayer and multilayer clouds. For almost fully covered and optically thick enough cloud scenes, the risk of misclassification ranges from 29% to 34% over the period 2006–10, and the average confidences in the estimated monolayer and multilayer characters of the cloud scenes are 74.0% and 58.2%, respectively. With the binary distinction, POLDER provides a climatology of the mono–multilayer cloud character that exhibits some interesting features. Comparisons with the performance of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) multilayer flag are given.

Fabrication and applications of multi-layer graphene stack on transparent polymer

In this report, we demonstrate the preparation method of a multi-layer stack with a pre-defined number of graphene layers, which was obtained using chemical vapor deposition graphene deposited on a copper substrate and subsequently transferred onto a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrate. The prepared multi-layer stack can also be transferred onto an arbitrary substrate and in the end, the polymer can be removed, which in consequence significantly increases the range of possible graphene applications. The multi-layer character was confirmed by optical transmittance measurements and Raman spectroscopy, whereas the microstructure of the multi-layer graphene stack was investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The electrical properties in the function of the number of graphene layers were assessed with standard Hall Effect measurements. Finally, we showed the practical application of the multi-layer graphene stack as a saturable absorber of a mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser.

Notch effect in failure of fiberglass non-woven materials

This study is concerned with the failure characteristics of notched and unnotched specimens of a highly porous, multilayered non-woven fiber network material subjected to uniaxial tension. The network consists of glass fibers locally bonded by a polymer resin. The multilayer character of the material emerges from the manufacturing process in which the material is produced in plate form. Experiments indicate the presence of a size effect on fracture such that the net section strength of deep-notched specimens appear as higher than that of unnotched and shallow-notched specimens. For unnotched and shallow-notched specimens, failure emerges as a through-thickness delamination triggered by the failure of the interlayer bonds. The presence of notches, however, leads to a transition in deformation mechanism. For deep notches an unusual in-plane failure mode is observed where the failure plane is inclined to the notch plane. This failure mode is attributed to the fiber orientation distribution and the nonaffine characteristics of the mechanical response of the material. A computational model for the in-plane failure analysis demonstrates that failure is not defined by a fracture but rather a strength model, and this effect results from the nonaffine deformation state in the network material. The transition to the higher strength failure mode with increased notch depth results from the constraints on internal load transmission processes imposed by the notches.

Introduction to Focus Issue: Complex Dynamics in Networks, Multilayered Structures and Systems.

In the last years, network scientists have directed their interest to the multi-layer character of real-world systems, and explicitly considered the structural and dynamical organization of graphs made of diverse layers between its constituents. Most complex systems include multiple subsystems and layers of connectivity and, in many cases, the interdependent components of systems interact through many different channels. Such a new perspective is indeed found to be the adequate representation for a wealth of features exhibited by networked systems in the real world. The contributions presented in this Focus Issue cover, from different points of view, the many achievements and still open questions in the field of multi-layer networks, such as: new frameworks and structures to represent and analyze heterogeneous complex systems, different aspects related to synchronization and centrality of complex networks, interplay between layers, and applications to logistic, biological, social, and technological fields.

Characteristic of the fractures of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in the victims of a traffic accident found in the passenger compartment of a modern motor vehicle

The objective of the present work was to study peculiar features of the injuries to three spinal regions in the victims of a head-on car collision found in the passenger compartments of modern motor vehicles equipped with seat belts and other safety means. It was shown that most frequent fatal injuries to the driver include the fractures of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae. These injuries are much less frequent in the passengers occupying the front and the right back seats. The multilayer and multiple character of the fractures in different parts of the spinal column in the car drivers is attributable to more pronounced spine flexion and extension associated with injuries of this kind. The fractures of the lower cervical vertebrae in the front seat passengers occur more frequently than injuries of a different type whereas the passengers of the back seats most frequently experience fractures of the upper cervical vertebrae. The passengers of the left back seat less frequently suffer from injuries to the thoracic spine than from the fractures of the cervical and lumbar vertebrae. The passengers of the central back seat most frequently experience fractures of the thoracic part of the vertebral column and the passengers occupying the right back seat fractures of the lumbar vertebrae.

„Alien city”. Miasto w procesie

The phenomenon of a city has been fascinating for ages not only architects and town planners, but also philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists and artists, who see in their transformation processes the reflection of changes taking place in human conditions. These changes’ dynamics intensifies, when a city functions only in virtual space, not having on its disposal a real architectonic tissue. This is the case of an alien city – a virtual city ‘floating’ in cyberspace of http://alien. mur.at/aliencity/index.php, created by Viennese group ‘alien productions’. As Ewa Rewers remarks: „Its Internet address becomes the doorstep […] There is a perspective of computer monitors, windows, which are the pass to ‘the better word’. Searching for ‘a better word’ in the context of a city has its long tradition, expressed in attempts of designing so called ideal cities. In the background of that tradition an alien city can also be perceived in categories of an ideal city. Made in cyberspace, it is an agglomeration meeting the utopian assumption and placed in the Net as postulates of the metropolis authorities. These desiderata touch the problem of society remodeling on the grounds of new ways of life creations, based on liberalization and abolition of all static axes and boundaries. When the ordered projects of Renaissance ideal cities based on harmony, symmetry and statics, not only in architectonic forms but a social system as well, an alien city is a city-process, characterized by constant changeability, fluctuation and imperceptibility. An alien city consists of images of real cities of the world and futuristic views generated by computer, overlapping one another. Visual aspects are completed by sounds, recorded in streets of various metropolises or created by the means of modern techniques. Therefore, it is a metropolis of a hybrid, multilayer character, being created as a result of accumulation of aspects taken from the reality, but also artificially created. Permanent and fixed topography and history does not exist, because every click on its map in the Internet changes its configuration, reorganizing the streets and public buildings’ location. Similar problem concerns its boundaries, which dislocate and remain elusive. An alien city vibrates perpetually, shakes and bustles with changes, but paradoxically it still remains itself, being a monad, in the meaning suggested by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and also refers to ‘City in space’ by Friedrich Kiesler from 1925. An alien city functions as a dislocated city and its doorstep is not material but virtual as the Internet address. The Renaissance ideal cities were characterized by symmetry, centralization and situating in a carefully selected area, alien city with its monadic, undefined, decentralized and immaterial character is compatible to the spirit of contemporary times and its fluctuation.

Adsorption of polyethyleneimine (PEI) on hematite. Influence of magnetic field on adsorption of PEI on hematite

A research on influence of magnetic field of various inductions on adsorption of polyethyleneimine (PEI) onto hematite is presented. Properties of the adsorbent surface (Magnetic Force Microscopy images and nitrogen adsorption data) and its behaviour in a water solution (particle size distribution) are also studied. Moreover, new analytical approach is proposed to compare the shape of the isotherms (e.g. presence of plateaus) by calculating a reciprocal derivative.A proposal of adsorption mechanism that explains a multilayer character of the adsorption itself as well as shapes of adsorption isotherms is presented. Changes in the before-mentioned mechanism due to exposure to magnetic field are also explained. Study revealed that in most cases presence of magnetic field decreases an amount of PEI adsorbed and this decrease is not a linear function of magnetic field strength – the tendency is reversed for the strongest field investigated (what is consistent with literature data).

Miłosierdzie Boże jako źródło inspiracji twórczej

When analysing the works by outstanding composers, one may come to the conclusion that this topic was not exploited too often in the history of music. The issue of Misericordias Domini was not as popular as, for example, Stabat Mater or Te Deum. Even a broader look at this topic area does not allow for noticing too many compositions. Does it mean that the great masters of the past epochs were not interested in Divine Mercy?The answer to this question should be sought in theology, especially that of the Middle Ages. The then teaching of the Church exposed the Creator more in the role of a stern Judge than Merciful Father. In later times, this topic was tackled by composers more bravely and it thrived in the 20th century. Thanks to Helena Kowalska, later Saint Faustina, the cult of Divine Mercy accelerated and quickly spread all over the world. Its climax was the pontificate of Blessed Pope John Paul II who established the Feast of Mercy celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. One of his last acts in this respect was the dedication of the Basilica of Divine Mercy in Krakow-Łagiewniki and forming the World Centre of Divine Mercy here. This site has become inspiration for our recording and PhD thesis.Gregorian chant is the oldest traditional chant in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. The church has prayed with this chant since the 6th century. Misericordias Domini chant presented on the record is a typical example of a responsorial psalm in which prayer with the text of Psalm 103 is combined with the chant of the chorus Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.Passacaglia is a form of composition characteristic for Baroque music, especially organ music. On the basis of the bass-ostinato, composers have built subtle polyphonic constructions. Misericordias Domini, the composition by Johann Rudolph Ahle (1625–1673), is constructed on this scheme. Ahle built a four-voice polyphonic construction on a diatonic, falling, half-note procession of sounds, by giving two voices to the violin duo and two to soloists: soprano and tenor. The multi-layer character of this piece relates not only to the sound matter but also to text, as the composer uses both Latin and German simultaneously.In the Renaissance and Baroque, the polychoral technique experienced the peak of its development. It was used in Misericordias Domini composed by Francesco Durante (1684–1755), representative of the Neapolitan School. Two choirs are involved in a dialogue to meet at the end of the composition, in the climax moments, when chanting Divine Mercy in eight voices.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756–1791) offertory of 1775, Misericordias Domini KV 222, belongs to rarely performed pieces. Its compact, through-composed form shows the masterly skill of the composer and his original approach to the topic of Divine Mercy. The dramatic narration, change of key which was not typical of classicism, e.g. from d-moll to c-moll, create an impression that the great composer might have been afraid whether he would experience Divine Mercy himself.Divine Mercy Song by Henryk Jan Botor (born in 1960), which was dedicated to Holy Father John Paul II, is composed well with other works inspired by the personality of the great Pope. It was composed in the jubilee year of 2000. The text borrowed from Saint Sister Faustina’s Diary was given to a soprano signer and also to the choir – in climax and text culmination moments. By using Neo-Romanticism musical language, Botor achieved the message readable to the listener, grasping pathetic and figurative music in words. Rich instrumentation, involving a string orchestra, a harp, an extended percussion section, a choir and solo voice, enabled the composer to create an almost unlimited pallet of colours and moods.Misericordias Domini composed by Wojciech Widłak (born in 1971) dated 19 April 2012 is the latest perspective on the described text. The composer created a subtly planned form, exploring the natural rhythm of the word Misericordias. Voices are treated here as instruments with the rhythm playing the leading role. The piece also uses modern means, such as glissando or recitals of texts in many languages, which affects the great power of the piece’s artistic expression. When it comes to texts, the author took them from memorial booklets in which pilgrims from all over the world entered their thank-you words and requests to Merciful Jesus at the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Krakow-Łagiewniki.Misericordia, the composition by Wojciech Kilar (born in 1932), is the piece that crowned the film Faustina (1994) directed by Jerzy Łukaszewicz. It is the meditation on Divine Mercy in the “form of crescendo” for a mixed choir of eight voices, string orchestra and piano. By using the minimum of means, the composer achieved maximum expression.The record is crowned with the organ improvisation based on the melody of the Polish church song: Jesus, I Trust in You.

Effect of Chloride on Semiconducting Properties of Passive Films Formed on Supermartensitic Stainless Steel in NaHCO3 Solution

The effects of chloride ion on the electrochemical behavior and the semiconducting properties of the passive film on supermartensitic stainless steel in 0. 5 mol/L NaHCO3 solution were investigated using potentiodynamic polarization, the potentiostatic current transients and Mott-Schottky analysis. The results indicated that chloride ion narrowed passivation region and improved pitting susceptibility. The steady state current densities were independent of film-formed potentials, which was in good agreement with the assumption of the point defect model (PDM). The capacitance results showed the fact that the passive films had a multilayer character. The defect density decreased with increasing passive film formation potential. The chloride ion induced changes of the acceptor densities and donor densities of the passive films.

Eigenwaves in multilayer strip structures

Strip lines of different types are the basis for integrated circuits (chips) operated in the microwave range. The up-to-date technology of manufacturing such chips, which is characterized by close spacing of individual elements and the presence of dielectric super- and sublayers, makes it necessary to allow for interelement coupling and the multilayer character of the medium, when calculating strip lines. Thus, in order to construct mathematical models of the elements of microwave chips, one should solve the problem of finding the system of eigenwaves in multilayer guiding strip structures. In [1], an efficient numerical-analytic method is proposed for calculation of eigenwaves in a shielded microstrip line. It is based on the projection method of solving special integral equations with the use of the Chebyshev basis which allows for the boundary features of the solution explicitly. This method makes it possible to obtain numerical results with high accuracy even for a fairly small number of basis functions [2]. In this work, this method is generalized for the multilayer strip guiding structures considered in [3] and applied to construction of the mathematical model of the connected microstrip lines on a suspended substrate. A universal, independent of the number of layers, way to obtain the main calculated relationships is proposed. In this case, the algorithms of finding the characteristics of multilayer strip structures are identical to the corresponding algorithms for microstrip lines on a single-layer substrate. Therefore, the algorithms, which are developed for microstrip lines, and the computer codes, which implement them, can be used for calculation of multilayer strip structures with minor adjustments.

Versican gene: Regulation by the β-catenin signaling pathway plays a significant role in dermal papilla cell aggregative growth

Dermal papilla cells (DPCs), which exhibit a multilayer aggregative growth character in in vitro culture, are closely related to induction of hair follicles (HFs) formation, and are associated with the development and cycle regulation of HFs. Versican, a large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan and one of the major components of the extracellular matrix, plays an essential role in hair follicle formation. And also the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway performs a crutial function in induction during hair follicle growth and embryogenesis. To characterize the role of versican and β-catenin in regulating DPCs aggregative growth, and to explore the versican gene expression regulation mechanism by TCF-4/β-catenin signaling pathway. We first cultured DPCs at different passages, and detected the change in β-catenin and versican expression in DPCs of various passages by RT-PCR and Western blot. Then we knockdowned the versican and β-catenin gene, evaluated and verificated the binding capability of TCF-4/β-catenin to TOP elements in versican gene promoter region at varied passage DPCs by EMSA and ChIP Assay, finally observed the effect of Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibition on DPC aggregative growth. With the increase of passage, DPCs lost the aggregative property, the versican mRNA and protein level in DPCs was on a gradual decline, while not significant declining tendency of β-catenin. The mRNA of both β-catenin and versican reduced simultaneously after β-catenin siRNA transfection. The binding ability of TCF-4/β-catenin of varied-passage DPCs to cultured versican promoters diminished with the increase of DPC passages. And versican inhibition or Wnt/β-catenin pathway blocking could both produce considerable effect on the aggregative growth of low-passage DPCs. Wnt/β-catenin signal transducting system regulates DPC aggregative growth through modifying versican expression by means of acting on the versican gene upstream promoter.

Conditions for a large cathodic sequestration of carbon dioxide into glassy carbon. Generation of a carbon poly-carboxylate versatile material

Carbon dioxide (being one of the most important pollutants of modern civilisations) is known to be poorly reactive under electron transfer. At a glassy carbon electrode, a saturated solution of CO2 in N,N,-dimethylformamide (DMF) containing tetramethylammonium salts exhibits a large reduction step (threshold a about −1.7V vs. Ag/AgCl). This step progressively vanishes upon recurrent scans. This behavior suggests that the main electrode reaction is the cathodic charge of GC (allowing the formation of a poly-nucleophilic species) followed by its reaction with electrophilic CO2 species. A dense poly-carboxylation of the material is confirmed by its derivatization with organic electrophiles (formation of redox-marked esters). Moreover, the destruction of the carboxylate layer could be simply achieved by anodic oxidation of this material (analogous to a non-Kolbe reaction with evolution of CO2). This supports a very large multi-layer character of carboxylation deeply affecting the carbon bulk.