Mutual Recombination Research Articles

“Contextualizing dispersoid evolution within the microstructure of MA956 using ion irradiation”

• MA956 was irradiated with 5 MeV Fe ++ up to 200 dpa from 400 to 500 °C. • Dispersoid evolution was attributed to Ostwald coarsening mechanism. • Rate theory was used to explain dislocation behavior as a function of temperature. • Voids nucleated on dispersoids only at 450 °C, 200 dpa. • The complex behavior of dispersoids is influenced by the evolution of the other microstructure features. Determining the microstructure evolution of oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloys is important for predicting the safety and structural integrity of fast reactors. In particular, understanding the co-evolution of dispersoids with the dislocation loops and network is critical for a comprehensive understanding of the microstructure response to radiation. Ion irradiations were performed on oxide dispersion strengthened MA956 with 5 MeV Fe ++ ions from 400 to 500 °C at doses ranging from 50 to 200 dpa. Characterization was performed primarily with scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy to investigate the Y-Al-O dispersoids, voids and dislocations. Regardless of temperature, the dispersoids increased in diameter and decreased in number density, which was attributed to an Ostwald coarsening mechanism supported by calculations of the radiation enhanced diffusion and ballistic dissolution. MA956 demonstrated excellent void swelling resistance and did not form voids except at 450 °C, 200 dpa where voids nucleated upon dispersoids. The dislocation loop diameter was highest at 500 °C followed by 400 °C then 450 °C while number density tended to decrease with dose. The dislocation behavior was explained as a function of the evolving defect kinetics, utilizing rate theory to calculate point defect concentrations and the increasing diffusivity of vacancies. At 400 °C, the interstitials had high enough diffusivity to nucleate new loops but vacancies remained relatively immobile. At 450 °C, vacancies are able to annihilate interstitials due to non-negligible mutual recombination causing the decreased number density of loops. At 500 °C, vacancy and interstitials are both mobile where the interstitials coalesce to form larger loops and vacancies provide a pathway for solutes diffusing to and from dispersoids.

Multiscale modeling of the effects of temperature, radiation flux, and sink strength on point-defect and solute redistribution in dilute Fe-based alloys

In this work, we investigate the radiation-induced segregation (RIS) resulting from the coupling between the atomic and point defect (PD) fluxes towards the structural defects of the microstructure. This flux coupling depends on the migration mechanisms of PDs and atoms, including thermal diffusion mechanisms and forced atomic relocations (FAR) occurring in displacement cascades. We derive an analytic model of the PD and solute RIS profiles accounting for PD production and mutual recombination, the FAR mechanism, and the overall sink strength of the microstructure controlling the elimination of PDs at structural defects. From this model, we present a parametric investigation of diffusion and RIS properties in dilute Fe-$B$ ($B$ = P, Mn, Cr, Si, Ni, and Cu) binary alloys, in the form of quantitative temperature/radiation flux/sink strength maps. As in previous works, we distinguish three kinetic domains for the diffusion and RIS properties: the recombination domain, the sink domain, and the thermal domain. Both our analytical approach and numerical applications demonstrate that the diffusion and RIS behaviors of PDs and solute atoms largely differ from one kinetic domain to another. Moreover, at high radiation flux, low temperature, and large sink strength, FARs tend to destroy the solute RIS profiles and therefore reduce the overall amount of RIS by forcing the mixing of solute and host atoms, especially close to PD sinks. Finally, we provide quantitative criteria to emulate in-reactor RIS behaviors by ion irradiation.

Point defect evolution under irradiation: Finite size effects and spatio-temporal correlations

The evolution of point defect concentrations under irradiation is controlled by their diffusion properties, and by their formation and elimination mechanisms. The latter includes the mutual recombination of vacancies and interstitials, and the elimination of point defects at sinks. Two models are traditionally used to predict the defect concentration evolution, the standard rate theory (SRT) and the atomistic kinetic Monte Carlo (AKMC). We show in this work a large discrepancy in the defect concentrations between both methods when the average number of defects in the AKMC simulation box is close or lower than one. The reason is that AKMC naturally captures strong space and time correlations between vacancies and interstitials generated by the finite size of the periodic simulation box. These correlations strongly affect the recombination rate and the point defect concentrations. SRT fails to predict such correlations, and the corresponding solution deviates from the more accurate solution given by the AKMC simulation under similar conditions. These finite size correlation effects are strong when the elimination of point defects occurs by recombination only, but can still be significant in the presence of sinks. In order to account for the spacio-temporal correlation in a continuum framework, we introduce a Correlated Pair Theory (CPT). This theory fully takes into account the correlations between vacancy and interstitial pairs and predicts point defect concentrations in good agreement with AKMC simulations. Inversely, if the goal is for the AKMC to reproduce defect concentrations in bulk using small simulation boxes, the naturally occurring correlations need to be corrected. We show here that the CPT can be used to modify the elimination rates in the AKMC simulations, so as to yield point defect concentrations in agreement with SRT.

A Comparison of Electron Densities Derived by Tomographic Inversion of the 135.6‐nm Ionospheric Nightglow Emission to Incoherent Scatter Radar Measurements

AbstractThe 135.6‐nm emission of atomic oxygen has become a workhorse for satellite remote sensing of the nighttime ionosphere. Previous work on interpreting the 135.6‐nm emission established the importance of properly modeling the mutual neutralization and radiative recombination contributions to the volume emission rate and emphasized the importance of modeling and interpreting the transfer and transport of the radiation. Recently, we developed and published a new inversion approach called Volume Emission Rate Tomography, which handles the radiation transfer as part of the tomography process. We compare electron density distributions derived using the Volume Emission Rate Tomography technique to interpret the 135.6‐nm measurements made by the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager instruments aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites in 2010. These retrievals are validated against electron densities measured during overflights of the Advanced Research Project Agency Long‐range Tracking and Identification Radar incoherent scatter radar. The mean percentage difference between the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager‐derived electron densities and those measured by Advanced Research Project Agency Long‐range Tracking and Identification Radar was 14%, when radiative recombination was the only source considered in the inversion process. When the mutual neutralization and radiation transport sources of emission are included in the inversions, the mean percentage decreased to 4%, thereby confirming that these sources are necessary to accurately derive the electron density from the 135.6‐nm emission.

Dibromometallyl‐iron complexes generated by the recombination of an alumanyl‐iron complex with EBr3 (E = Al, Ga)

AbstractThe first dibromoalumanyl‐iron complex [Br2Al–FeCp(CO)2] was synthesized by the reaction of monobromoalumanyl‐iron complex bearing a bulky substituent on aluminum atom with AlBr3, whose structure was determined by the X‐ray crystallographic analysis and the NMR measurement. The reactions monobromoalumanyl‐iron complex with GaBr3 show that these reactions would proceed by the mutual recombination of substituents.

In-situ irradiation tolerance investigation of high strength ultrafine tungsten-titanium carbide alloy

Refining grain size and adding alloying elements are two complementary approaches for enhancing the radiation tolerance of existing nuclear materials. Here, we present detailed in-situ irradiation research on defect evolution behavior and irradiation tolerance of ultrafine W-TiC alloys (thin foils) irradiated with 1 MeV Kr+2 at RT and 1073 K, and compare their overall performance to pure coarse grained tungsten. Loop Burgers vector was studied confirming the presence of <100> loops whose population increased at high temperature. Loop density, average loop area, and overall damage are reported as a function of irradiation dose revealing distinct defect evolution behavior from pure materials. The overall damage generally followed the average loop size trend, which decreased with time for both temperatures, but was higher at 1073 K and attributed to biased vacancy sink behavior of the TiC dispersoids evidenced by large vacancy clusters on their interfaces. By comparison, the overall loop and void damage in pure tungsten was larger by a factor of six and two, respectively. The improved irradiation damage resistance in the alloys is thus attributed to the effect of dispersoids in 1) the enhancement in annihilating defects and mutual defect recombination due to both dispersoids and a higher grain boundary density; 2) decreasing the loop mobility, causing shrinkage and annihilation of loop density, which was confirmed via in-situ video. Several mechanisms are illustrated to describe the performance of the complex alloy system. The results motivate further experimental and modeling research that aims to understand the many different phenomena occurring at different time scales.

Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy of the Accumulation of Vacancy Defects in an Aging Fe–Ni–Al Alloy Irradiated at 573 K

The influence of intermetallic Ni3Al precipitates on the accumulation of vacancy defects in aged Fe–Ni–Al alloy at the initial stages of electron irradiation (5 × 10–4 dpa) at a temperature of 573 K has been studied using positron annihilation spectroscopy. The obtained results demonstrate that intermetallic precipitates inhibit the process of the accumulation of vacancy defects under irradiation. It has been found that these precipitates facilitate the mutual recombination of point defects that form under irradiation. This effect has been attributed to elastic stresses at the precipitate–matrix boundaries.

Population Structure and Local Adaptation of MAC Lung Disease Agent Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) is one of the most common nontuberculous mycobacterial species responsible for chronic lung disease in humans. Despite increasing worldwide incidence, little is known about the genetic mechanisms behind the population evolution of MAH. To elucidate the local adaptation mechanisms of MAH, we assessed genetic population structure, the mutual homologous recombination, and gene content for 36 global MAH isolates, including 12 Japanese isolates sequenced in the present study. We identified five major MAH lineages and found that extensive mutual homologous recombination occurs among them. Two lineages (MahEastAsia1 and MahEastAsia2) were predominant in the Japanese isolates. We identified alleles unique to these two East Asian lineages in the loci responsible for trehalose biosynthesis (treS and mak) and in one mammalian cell entry operon, which presumably originated from as yet undiscovered mycobacterial lineages. Several genes and alleles unique to East Asian strains were located in the fragments introduced via recombination between East Asian lineages, suggesting implication of recombination in local adaptation. These patterns of MAH genomes are consistent with the signature of distribution conjugative transfer, a mode of sexual reproduction reported for other mycobacterial species.

Effects of impurities on the rate of radiation creep and vacancy swelling in Fe-based austenite alloys

In the framework of the model of radiation-enhanced diffusion in the systems with impurities, effects of the formation of “vacancy–impurity atom” complexes on accumulation and annealing of radiation defects, rate of the growth of vacancy voids, and radiation creep in Fe-based austenite alloys are investigated. The temperature dependences of the steady-state concentration of radiation point defects, the concentration of vacancy complexes, and the effective coefficient of mutual recombination of radiation defects in materials with impurity complexes with a different bonding energy are calculated. The possibility of the suppression of the vacancy swelling and radiation creep effects due to formation of “vacancy–impurity atom” complexes having a high bonding energy is shown.

Population Evolution of Helicobacter pylori through Diversification in DNA Methylation and Interstrain Sequence Homogenization.

Decoding of closely related genomes is now revealing the process of population evolution. In bacteria, population divergence appears associated with a unique set of sequence-specific epigenetic DNA methylation systems, often within restriction-modification (RM) systems. They might define a unique gene expression pattern and limit genetic flux between lineages in population divergence. We addressed the contribution of methylation systems to population diversification in panmictic bacterial species, Helicobacter pylori, which shows an interconnected population structure through frequent mutual recombination. We analyzed complete genome sequences of 28 strains collected in Fukui, Japan. Their nucleotide sequences are closely related although fine-scale analyses revealed two subgroups likely reflecting human subpopulations. Their sequences are tightly connected by homologous recombination. Our extensive analysis of RM systems revealed an extreme variability in DNA methyltransferases, especially in their target recognition domains. Their diversity was, however, not immediately related to the genome sequence diversity, except for very closely related strains. An interesting exception is a hybrid strain, which likely has conserved the methylation gene repertoire from one parent but diversified in sequence by massive acquisition of fragmentary DNA sequences from the other parent. Our results demonstrate how a bacterial population can be extremely divergent in epigenetics and yet homogenized in sequence.

Effect of impurities and grain boundaries on the kinetic characteristics of the radiation damage of iron and austenitic steels

Austenitic stainless steel AISI 304, 316 and similar in composition, are used to create many elements of the reactor core, such as fuel cladding of fast-neutron reactor. It is known that during the operation, they became subject to such type of radiation damage, as the vacancy swelling and radiation creep. In this paper, was analyzed the effect of alloying elements, impurities and their complexes with radiation defects (RD) on the characteristics of RD and radiation-enhanced diffusion (RED) Parameters of vacancy voids nucleation and growth processes were also studied on the example of Cr18Ni10T steel. Evaluation of the temperature dependence of steady-state concentration of RD for materials with different binding energy complexes "defect - impurity", the effective values of mutual recombination rate RD for materials complexes, influence the formation of impurity complexes and volume density of grain boundaries on the rate of growth of vacancy voids and radiation creep was conducted. The possibility of varying the characteristics of the complex defect - impurity and grain boundary size for the suppression of radiation creep and vacancy swelling was studied

Genome-wide survey of codons under diversifying selection in a highly recombining bacterial species, Helicobacter pylori.

Selection has been a central issue in biology in eukaryotes as well as prokaryotes. Inference of selection in recombining bacterial species, compared with clonal ones, has been a challenge. It is not known how codons under diversifying selection are distributed along the chromosome or among functional categories or how frequently such codons are subject to mutual homologous recombination. Here, we explored these questions by analysing genes present in >90% among 29 genomes of Helicobacter pylori, one of the bacterial species with the highest mutation and recombination rates. By a method for recombining sequences, we identified codons under diversifying selection (dN/dS > 1), which were widely distributed and accounted for ∼0.2% of all the codons of the genome. The codons were enriched in genes of host interaction/cell surface and genome maintenance (DNA replication, recombination, repair, and restriction modification system). The encoded amino acid residues were sometimes found adjacent to critical catalytic/binding residues in protein structures. Furthermore, by estimating the intensity of homologous recombination at a single nucleotide level, we found that these codons appear to be more frequently subject to recombination. We expect that the present study provides a new approach to population genomics of selection in recombining prokaryotes.

Effect of phosphorus on vacancy-type defect behaviour in electron-irradiated Ni studied by positron annihilation

Very dilute Ni–P system (containing 50–240appm phosphorus) irradiated by 5MeV electrons at various temperatures (270–543K) was studied by positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) and the electrical resistivity measurements. Under irradiation at 270K (below stage III in Ni), the accumulation of the monovacancies in the Ni–P system is 1.5–2.0 times greater than that in pure Ni irradiated in the same conditions. This fact attests to the strong interaction between P atoms and self-interstitial atoms (SIAs). As a result of the non-mobile SIA–P complexes formation, the mutual recombination of point defects is suppressed and the vacancy accumulation is, respectively, enhanced. During post-irradiation annealing, the vacancy migration induces the transport process of the phosphorus atoms and leads to the formation of the vacancy clusters decorated with P atoms. The annealing behaviour of the defect structures in Ni–P systems after irradiation at enhanced temperatures was also studied. The influence of phosphorus on the formation and further evolution of the vacancy aggregates decrease with increasing of the irradiation temperature.

Effect of heterogeneous distributed intermetallic precipitates on accumulation of vacancy-like defects in irradiated Fe-Ni-based alloys studied by positron annihilation

The effect of heterogeneous distributed intermetallic particles on interaction of point defects with dislocations in cold-worked Fe-Ni-based alloys during electron irradiation was studied by positron annihilation. It was shown that vacancy accumulation occurs in cold-worked alloys during irradiation in spite of high dislocation density. It is caused by the presence of areas with lower dislocation density in alloys. At room temperature, the vacancies are not trapped by dislocations totally because a low their mobility. At elevated temperatures, vacancies may leave dislocations and form VCs. In cold-worked Fe-Ni-Ti alloy the accumulation of defects during irradiation is essentially lowered in comparison with cold worked Fe-Ni alloy. Ni3Ti precipitates, which are present on dislocations, reduce the efficiency of interaction of dislocations with interstitial atoms and, thereby, enhance the mutual recombination of point defects.

Formation of grain boundary segregations in alloy Fe-Cr-Ni during strong deformation and under radiation

Segregation of nickel in grain boundaries (GBs) in the Fe-Cr-Ni alloy induced by radiation (RIS) or plastic deformation (DIS) has been studied in the framework of a model which considers the generation of point defects, their mutual recombination, and absorption in GBs. It has been demonstrated that at sufficiently high rates of generation of point defects and in certain temperature ranges the achievement of a stationary state can be preceded by the stage of “rapid” segregation at which the Ni concentration in GBs reaches its maximum. Such mode of formation of segregations can be observed not only upon radiation (“rapid” RIS mode), but also under the conditions of severe deformation (cold rolling, equal-channel angular pressing); in the latter case, the segregates are inherited after the termination of deformation.

Genome-Wide Survey of Mutual Homologous Recombination in a Highly Sexual Bacterial Species

The nature of a species remains a fundamental and controversial question. The era of genome/metagenome sequencing has intensified the debate in prokaryotes because of extensive horizontal gene transfer. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide survey of outcrossing homologous recombination in the highly sexual bacterial species Helicobacter pylori. We conducted multiple genome alignment and analyzed the entire data set of one-to-one orthologous genes for its global strains. We detected mosaic structures due to repeated recombination events and discordant phylogenies throughout the genomes of this species. Most of these genes including the “core” set of genes and horizontally transferred genes showed at least one recombination event. Taking into account the relationship between the nucleotide diversity and the minimum number of recombination events per nucleotide, we evaluated the recombination rate in every gene. The rate appears constant across the genome, but genes with a particularly high or low recombination rate were detected. Interestingly, genes with high recombination included those for DNA transformation and for basic cellular functions, such as biosynthesis and metabolism. Several highly divergent genes with a high recombination rate included those for host interaction, such as outer membrane proteins and lipopolysaccharide synthesis. These results provide a global picture of genome-wide distribution of outcrossing homologous recombination in a bacterial species for the first time, to our knowledge, and illustrate how a species can be shaped by mutual homologous recombination.

The origin of the radiobiological damage in cells stored in cryostatic conditions

The radiation induced free radical damage in Chinese hamster lung fibroblast V-79 cells stored in DMEM culture medium containing 10% DMSO has been investigated by matrix EPR spectroscopy in connection with the H2O/DMSO binary phase diagram. A major part of the indirect effect is due to radicals from the DMSO·3H2O phase in the freezing medium, which are released on warming in the temperature range between 130K and 160K, that is, far below the eutectic melting temperature (210K). The radicals trapped in the DMSO·3H2O phase react with oxygen above 160K giving reactive oxygen species (ROS) of the type of peroxyl radicals. A lower limit yield of 10–15% was calculated for this conversion. Scavenging experiments with a stable nitroxyl radical (tempol) have demonstrated that part of the DMSO·3H2O radicals escape by mutual recombination on melting and are therefore available for inducing indirect cell damage. The same experiments performed with pure frozen water have shown that OH radicals are not available for inducing cell damage. The EPR measurements performed on H2O/DMSO frozen mixtures suggest that the radiation induced radical forming process does not change when passing to the low dose range below 1Gy, in agreement with the linear model.

Influence of the temperature and rate of generation of point defects on the processes of deformation-induced segregation in the Fe-Cr-Ni alloy

The process of nickel segregation at grain boundaries in the Fe-Cr-Ni alloy upon severe plastic deformation has been investigated depending on the temperature. The kinetics of the formation of segregates has been studied by numerically solving diffusion equations that take into account the generation and absorption of point defects and their mutual recombination. It has been shown that the Ni concentration at grain boundaries is reduced with increasing temperature and at T ≥ 600 K no segregates are formed, which agrees with the experiment. The dependence of the degree of Ni segregation on the rate of generation of point defects is nonmonotonic, with a maximum in the range of medium rates of generation, which qualitatively corresponds to the analogous dependence observed upon radiation-induced segregation of nickel in this alloy.

Dissociative recombination as primary dissociation channel in plasma chemistry

Molecule formation, surface modification and deposition in plasmas can in first order be described as dissociation in the plasma and association of fragments at the surface. In active plasmas ionization and dissociation by electrons is accompanied by excitation. But besides these direct electron processes also a second dissociation channel is active: that by charge transfer followed by dissociative recombination. This latter route is the dominant one in the colder recombining phase of the plasma. Atomic and molecular radicals diffuse or flow to the surface, where new molecules are formed. As a result the original molecules are, after being dissociated in the plasma, converted at the surface to new simple molecules, as H2, CO, N2, H2O, O2, NO, NH3, HCN, C2H2, CH4, to name a few in C/H/O/N containing plasmas. There is evidence that the molecular fragments resulting from dissociative recombination are ro-vibrationally (and possible electronically) excited. Also the molecules resulting from association at the surface may be ro-vibrationally or electronically excited. This may facilitate follow up processes as negative ion formation by dissociative attachment. These negative ions will be lost by mutual recombination with positive ions, giving again excited fragments. Rotational or other excitation may change considerably plasma chemistry.

Mutual recombination and clusterization effect of the vacancy and interstitial barriers on radiation hardening materials

There is proposed the nonlinear model of dose dependence saturation of the yield strength on the base of the vacancy and interstitial barrier interaction in this work. Processes of mutual recombination of vacancy and interstitial barriers and formation of vacancy and interstitial clusters are taken into consideration. In the framework of the model, the analytical equations corresponding to the evolution of the barrier densities and yield strength are obtained. It is shown that the yield strength of irradiated materials decreases with the increasing intensity of barrier recombination processes, the dependence being nonlinear. Also it is shown that the model is valid both for low doses and large doses on the stage of radiation hardening.