Phase Components Research Articles

Improving cellular uptake and synergetic anti-tumor effects of magnolol and Brucea javanica oil through self-microemulsion

Objective Magnolol (MG) and Brucea javanica (L.) Merr. oil (BJO) possess synergetic anti-tumor effects, but have poor water solubility and stability, which results in low oral bioavailability. Significance The MG loaded self-microemulsion drug delivery system (MG-SMDDS) with BJO as oil phase component was utilized to improve the cellular uptake and synergetic anti-tumor effects. Methods Compatibility study and pseudoternary phase diagram (PTPD) were respectively employed to screen for the composition and proportion of oil phase in the formulation. Central composite design-effect surface method was applied to optimize proportion of each formulation condition. The droplet size, ζ-potential, colloid stability, encapsulation rate (ER) and in vitro dissolution rate of MG-SMDDS were evaluated. Furthermore, cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of the microemulsion on HepG2 cells were assessed. Results The optimal composition of MG-SMDDS was: MG (9.09%), castor oil (7.40%), BJO (2.47%), Cremophor EL 35 (54.04%) and 1, 2-propanediol (27.01%). The MG-SMDDS exhibited satisfactory droplet size, ζ-potential, colloid stability and ER, as well as faster dissolution rate than free MG. More importantly, SMEDDS containing BJO could enhance the cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of free BJO and free MG on tumor cells. Conclusions The BJO self-microemulsion delivery technique can provide an idea for design of oral delivery vehicles based on BJO.

Sequence optimisation for compressed sensing CDMA MIMO radar via mutual coherence minimisation

AbstractThe authors focus on the waveform design for Code Division Multiple Access Multiple Input Multiple Output (CDMA‐MIMO) radar systems, with a specific emphasis on Compressed Sensing (CS) based target estimation. The selection of an appropriate waveform is a critical determinant in the effectiveness of estimation algorithms. Recent studies show the possibilities of optimising waveform parameters to improve the efficiency of CS based estimation. The authors introduce an optimisation framework designed to modify the phase components of code sequences used in CS‐CDMA MIMO radar systems. The objective of this optimisation is to minimise the l∞ norm of off‐diagonal elements within the Gramian matrix of the underlying sensing matrix, focusing on phase modulation of the waveform. Solving this optimisation problem requires dealing with a non‐convex, combinatorial and non‐linear scenario. Simulated Annealing is employed as the solution technique. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed optimisation approach, the resulting optimised sequence is rigorously compared against well‐established Hadamard and Gold sequences across various performance metrics. These metrics encompass correlation properties, ambiguity function behaviour, recovery percentage and recovery error. The study demonstrates that the generated poly‐phase sequences outperform existing sequences, leading to significantly improved target reconstruction results in the context of CDMA‐MIMO radar systems with CS‐based estimation.

Optical solitons for the dispersive concatenation model with power law of self-phase modulation and multiplicative white noise

AbstractThis paper recovers optical solitons to the newly proposed dispersive concatenation model that comes with power law of self-phase modulation. The presence of white noise in the Itô sence makes the model stochastic. Two integration approaches retrieve bright and singular optical solitons. The intermediary Weierstrass’ elliptic functions are implemented for this retrieval. It has been established that the effect of white noise stays confined to the phase component of the solitons.

Microstructure evolution, mechanical characteristics and erosion behavior of Cr2O3–Al2O3–MgO–ZrO2 refractories in molten reduction slag

In order to overcome the serious corrosion problem of furnace hearth refractory materials for smelting reduction ironmaking, the Cr2O3–Al2O3–MgO–ZrO2 refractories were synthesized, and the phase component, microstructure, mechanical characteristics, and slag erosion behavior of composite refractories were investigated and evaluated. The results indicate that the composite refractories mainly consist of Mg(Al, Cr)2O4 spinel phase, (Al, Cr)2O3 solid solution and ZrO2. The content of Mg (Al, Cr)2O4 spinel significantly increases with the increasing MgO content, while the content of (Al, Cr)2O3 obviously decreases. Furthermore, the comprehensive mechanical properties of the MgO modified composite refractories can be obviously enhanced by increasing the MgO content, and sample S4 presents the best mechanical characteristics when the MgO addition is 10 wt%. The corresponding hardness, compressive strength and bending strength are 14.22 GPa, 267.14 MPa and 80.0 MPa, respectively. This is mainly because the formation of Mg(Al, Cr)2O4 significantly improves the densification of composite refractories, and a large number of high-strength Mg (Al, Cr)2O4 spinel “bridge” formed between the large-sized (Al, Cr)2O3 grains. The erosion test results indicate that increasing the MgO content can significantly improve the slag infiltration resistance of composite refractories, because the formation of Mg (Al, Cr)2O4 spinel layer significantly improves the densification of MgO reinforced composite refractories. Although the slag corrosion resistance of Mg(Al, Cr)2O4 is lower than that of (Al, Cr)2O3, the Cr2O3–Al2O3–MgO–ZrO2 refractories still presents good erosion resistance, permeability resistance, and excellent mechanical characteristics.

Zein/sodium abietate complex stabilized pickering emulsion as a delivery system for controlled release of hydrophobic photosensitive pesticide

Inefficient use of pesticides and the consequent environmental problems have led to the development of low-cost, environment-friendly and efficient pesticide delivery systems. Pickering emulsions (PK) stabilized by zein are considered to have many application prospects in the delivery of pesticides. Herein, the function of zein was improved by non-covalent binding with sodium abietate (RA-Na). Tea tree oil (TTO) was used as the solvent for hydrophobic photosensitive pesticide, avermectin (AVM), and also as a component of the oil phase of emulsion. The emulsion AVM@PK was oil in water (O/W) type that had certain foliar affinity. Under the same conditions of UV irradiation, the AVM residual rate of AVM@PK system was 2.4 times that of commercial emulsion (EC), showing superior UV resistance. AVM@PK released AVM at a faster rate under acidic/ basic conditions in vitro than under neutral conditions, with a certain pH response. In vitro bioactivity tests showed that AVM@PK had good antibacterial activity and insecticidal activity equivalent to EC. This system is expected to be used to prevent some plant pests while also preventing or treating some bacterial diseases. It is a simple, environment-friendly, low-cost, effective, and practical strategy for pesticide delivery.

Aqueous Phase Reforming over Platinum Catalysts on Doped Carbon Supports: Exploring Platinum-Heteroatom Interactions.

A series of platinum catalysts supported on carbon nanofibers with various heteroatom dopings were synthesized to investigate the effect of the local platinum environment on the catalytic activity and selectivity in aqueous phase reforming (APR) of ethylene glycol (EG). Typical carbon dopants such as oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and boron were chosen based on their ability to bring acidic or basic functional groups to the carbon surface. In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was used to identify the platinum oxidation state and platinum species formed during APR of EG through multivariate curve resolution alternating least-squares analysis, observing differences in activity, selectivity, and platinum local environment among the catalysts. The platinum-based catalyst on the nitrogen-doped carbon support demonstrated the most favorable properties for H2 production due to high Pt dispersion and basicity (H2 site time yield 22.7 h-1). Direct Pt-N-O coordination was identified by XAS in this catalyst. The sulfur-doped catalyst presented Pt-S contributions with the lowest EG conversion rate and minimal production of the gas phase components. Boron and phosphorus-doped catalysts showed moderate activity, which was affected by low platinum dispersion on the carbon support. The phosphorus-doped catalyst showed preferential selectivity to alcohols in the liquid phase, associated with the presence of acid sites and Pt-P contributions observed under APR conditions.

SONAR target classification with complex-valued neural networks

Popular acoustic signal processing techniques analyze acoustic color, which is a magnitude representation of a frequency spectrum. This paradigm allows for easy visualization of results and simpler models at the cost of throwing out phase information. Analysis and modeling of complex-valued data does have inherent difficulty from the nature of complex numbers. Optimization on the complex field requires alternate partial derivative definitions to circumvent consequences of the Cauchy–Riemann equations regarding holomorphic functions. To make use of phase information, we demonstrate classifier model optimization with complex-valued parameters on data with both magnitude and phase components and show how complex neural networks yield marked improvements over similarly shaped real-valued networks in both classification accuracy and generalization ability. We apply these techniques to small target SONAR with simulated Lamb wave resonance signals for hollow spheres, differentiating between different material classes. [Research funded by the DoD Navy (NEEC) Grant No. N001742010016.]

How to write a peer-polished proposal in 15 weeks

Creating a meticulously crafted proposal requires a strategic approach and systematic planning. An overview of a semester-long graduate course on how to write successful NIH grant applications will be provided. Particular emphasis is given to developing proposals for the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs/fellowships/F31) or to disease-based foundations. The writing process involves drafting components in several key phases. The initial four weeks focus on understanding the proposal requirements, identifying the target audience, organizing a brilliant biosketch and remarkable resources and environment pages, and establishing a clear hypothesis and specific aims. An extensive literature review is conducted in the subsequent two weeks to contextualize the proposal, identify a gap in knowledge, and stress the significance and innovation of the proposed work. Weeks 7 and 8 are devoted to the development of a robust research approach and methodology, including data collection, analysis techniques, expected outcomes, potential challenges, and alternative approaches. The review process, refinement and enhancement take center stage for the remaining weeks. Peer review and feedback mechanisms are incorporated to iteratively improve each proposal's coherence, logic, and persuasiveness. This systematic 15-week timeline emphasizes iterative refinement through peer input, ensuring a polished proposal ready for submission.

Organization of the Reserve Pool of Synaptic Vesicles in Nerve Terminals Lacking Protein Liquid Phase Components

Organization of the Reserve Pool of Synaptic Vesicles in Nerve Terminals Lacking Protein Liquid Phase Components

Interfacial Behavior of Slag, Fly Ash, and Red Mud-Based Geopolymer Mortar with Concrete Substrate: Mechanical Properties and Microstructure

Geopolymer, as a new type of solid waste-based inorganic cementitious material, exhibits outstanding behavior in terms of physical and chemical performance, macromechanical properties, long-lasting stability, and features potential application development tendency in the field of repair and reinforcement of existing concrete structures. This paper investigated the interfacial behavior of geopolymer mortar with OPC concrete substrate under different slag, fly ash and red mud mixing proportions, while cement mortar was used as a control group for the research. The interfacial bonding properties of the geopolymer mortar to the OPC concrete substrate were elaborated by carrying out split tensile test, double-sided shear test, and three-point bending test. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to further analyze the microstructural characteristics and physical phase components of the interfacial transition zone between the geopolymer mortar and the OPC concrete substrate. The results indicated that the compressive strength of slag-fly ash-red mud-based geopolymer mortar under different mixing ratio conditions was consistently superior to that of cement mortar, where the optimum mixing ratio for the geopolymer mortar was S33F33R33. Overall, the interfacial bonding properties of the geopolymer mortar to the OPC concrete substrate gradually increased with the increment of the slag content, however, an evolutionary trend of minor enhancement followed by a gradual reduction was observed with the growth of the fly ash and red mud content.

Direct recycling of Li‐ion batteries from cell to pack level: Challenges and prospects on technology, scalability, sustainability, and economics

AbstractDirect recycling is a novel approach to overcoming the drawbacks of conventional lithium‐ion battery (LIB) recycling processes and has gained considerable attention from the academic and industrial sectors in recent years. The primary objective of directly recycling LIBs is to efficiently recover and restore the active electrode materials and other components in the solid phase while retaining electrochemical performance. This technology's advantages over traditional pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy are cost‐effectiveness, energy efficiency, and sustainability, and it preserves the material structure and morphology and can shorten the overall recycling path. This review extensively discusses the advancements in the direct recycling of LIBs, including battery sorting, pretreatment processes, separation of cathode and anode materials, and regeneration and quality enhancement of electrode materials. It encompasses various approaches to successfully regenerate high‐value electrode materials and streamlining the recovery process without compromising their electrochemical properties. Furthermore, we highlight key challenges in direct recycling when scaled from lab to industries in four perspectives: (1) battery design, (2) disassembling, (3) electrode delamination, and (4) commercialization and sustainability. Based on these challenges and changing market trends, a few strategies are discussed to aid direct recycling efforts, such as binders, electrolyte selection, and alternative battery designs; and recent transitions and technological advancements in the battery industry are presented.

Influence of copper and silicon on phase transformations in the iron – carbon system

Influence of copper and silicon on phase transformations in the iron – carbon system

Evolution of Fe-bearing phases during the fabrication and its effect on the mechanical properties of AA8014 aluminum alloy

The morphology of Fe-bearing phase particles has significant influences on the mechanical properties of AA8014 aluminum alloy sheets. This study aims to investigate the evolution of the morphology, size, and distribution of Fe-bearing phases during casting, homogenization, and rolling. In the paper, the effects of thermal treatment and deformation on the evolution of the Fe-bearing phases, and the mechanical properties of AA8014 aluminum alloy annealing sheet have been studied quantitatively. The main phase components in the ingot are α-Al matrix, Al6(Fe,Mn), and a small amount of Al3(Fe,Mn) and α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si. Homogenization at 630℃ for 12 h leads to the transformation of the metastable Al6(Fe,Mn) particles into stable α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si with “pore structures”. Subsequent hot rolling (75.0 mm to 7.0 mm, deformation rate of 91%) results in a significant increase in the area number density of Fe-bearing particles, accompanied by a notable decrease in average length and aspect ratio, leading to a more uniform distribution of Fe-bearing phases. Cold rolling (7.0 mm to 0.7 mm, deformation rate of 90%) or further annealing causes slight changes in the area number density and size of Fe-bearing phases. Notably, the content of α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si is minimal in the non-homogenized ingot. After hot rolling and cold rolling, the coarse Fe-bearing particles are observed in the non-homogenized sheets with 7.0 mm and 0.7 mm thickness, with a non-uniform distribution of the Fe-bearing phases. A comparative study was conducted on the mechanical properties and microstructure in final sheets with 0.7 mm thickness fabricated from homogenization and non-homogenization. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, elongation, and work hardening exponent in sheet with homogenization are higher due to smaller grain and Fe-bearing phase particles.

Proteomics of appetite-regulating system influenced by menstrual cycle and intensive exercise in female athletes: a pilot study

Female athletes who endure intense training are at risk of developing the 'female athlete triad,' making energy intake management crucial. However, the fluctuations in estradiol and progesterone levels throughout the menstrual cycle present a challenge in maintaining consistent energy intake. This study aimed to uncover the underlying factors associated with appetite regulation linked to menstrual phases and exercise using proteomic approach. Five female athletes engaged in 60 min of bicycle exercise, followed by 90 min of rest, during both the follicular and luteal phases. Serum samples were collected before, during, and after exercise, and the serum proteome was analyzed using 2D-gel electrophoresis. A total of 511 spots were detected in the subjects' serum profiles, with significant decreases observed in haptoglobin during the luteal phase and complement component 3 during bicycle training. Unsupervised learning with a generalized estimating equation analysis showed that serum peptide YY (PYY), an appetite suppressor, significantly influenced the fluctuations of serum proteins induced by exercise (p < 0.05). Regression analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between PYY and serum IgM (R = 0.87), implying that the intestinal environment and the immune response in female athletes may contribute to appetite regulation.

Synergies from off-gas analysis and mass balances for wastewater treatment — Some personal reflections on our experiences

Looking back at over a decade of research by herself and her group, the author advocates the added value of gas phase measurements and the application of mass balances, as well as the synergetic benefits obtained when combining both. The increased application of off-gas measurements for greenhouse gas emission monitoring offers a great opportunity to look at other components in the gas phase, particularly oxygen. Mass balances should not be strictly reserved for modellers but also prove useful while conducting lab experiments and studying full-scale measurement data. Combining off-gas measurements with mass balances may serve not only to quantify greenhouse gas emission factors and aeration efficiency but also to follow dynamic concentration profiles of dissolved components without dedicated sensors and/or to calculate other unmeasured variables. Mass-balance-based data reconciliation allows for obtaining reliable and accurate data, and even more when combined with off-gas analysis.

Role of electromagnetic energy and momentum in the Aharonov–Bohm effect

We analyse the physical meaning of the Aharonov–Bohm (AB) phase based on its representation through electromagnetic (EM) potentials as a sum of four components, which, in addition to the known electric and magnetic phase components, contains two more terms recently disclosed by our team in the analysis of quantum phase effects for dipoles and charges, and which we named the complementary electric AB phase and the complementary magnetic AB phase. Using the complete expression for the AB phase, we reveal that the phase component, explicitly depending on time, is determined by the interactional electric energy, while the phase component, explicitly depending on the velocity of charge, is determined by the interactional EM momentum for an isolated system ‘source of EM field and charge’. These findings shed new light on the origin of the AB phase and, in particular, allow us to generalize the de Broglie relationship and the Heisenberg uncertainty relations for a charged particle in an EM field.

Scalar fields features of video sequences energy characteristics

To improve the methods of spatio-temporal filtering, an approach based on the analysis of finitary images energy spectra can be used. The purpose of this work is to study the possibility of using energy spectra for motion identification in video sequence frames. Each frame of a video sequence is a spatially finite image, the energy spectrum of which contains information about the phase components. This information is of particular importance for determining the location of dynamic objects. The most important information is also contained in the harmonic amplitude increments of the frame energy spectra, i.e. the energy spectrum generates a scalar discrete field. The energy functions describe inter-frame changes in the amplitudes of harmonics of the energy spectrum. To apply energy spectra in motion identification algorithms, it is necessary to analyze the properties of these scalar fields. Scalar fields generated by energy spectra of frames of test video sequences are studied. Test video sequences with an object moving in an arbitrary direction are used. Scalar fields of energy functions are presented graphically. Characteristic regions of scalar fields are identified and their projections are built using isolines. The boundaries of the characteristic areas and the coordinates of extrema of energy functions are determined. From them, all coordinates of the dynamic object and its horizontal/vertical displacements can be found. The dependence of phase-energy function extrema on the position of the object before the motion and on the direction of motion is studied. When moving in an arbitrary direction, different types of extrema are observed: point and extended. At vertical or horizontal movements, the energy functions graphs have only two-dimensional pulses. Additional criteria for eliminating ambiguities are proposed. The ambiguities are due to the fact that the number and nature of extrema may coincide for different directions of motion and location of objects in different quadrants of the coordinate plane. The extrema of energy functions for object movements in all possible directions and locations in any quadrant of a video sequence frame are determined. The obtained results showed that energy functions for object motion in arbitrary direction have a large number of characteristic regions containing point and extended extrema. The configuration of extrema depends both on the direction of motion and on the quadrant of the image in which the object is located. Therefore, it is most advisable to begin to determine the spatial coordinates of an object and the magnitude of its horizontal/vertical movement by finding the maximum and minimum boundaries of energy functions, and then refine it using the coordinates of the extrema. Consideration of characteristic regions and extrema of scalar fields of energy functions can be used in the development of algorithms effective in terms of "accuracy/speed" ratio, and can increase the performance of image and video processing systems. Algorithms for determining the object position, velocity and direction of its movement by analyzing scalar fields of energy spectra components can be used as an additional or main tool for motion identification in technical vision systems.

Stochastic Perturbation of Optical Solitons for the Concatenation Model with Power-Law of Self-Phase Modulation Having Multiplicative White Noise

Addressing the concatenation model, this paper explores the incorporation of power-law self-phase modulation and spatio-temporal dispersion, in addition to the chromatic dispersion. The inclusion of the white noise effect, along with deterministic Hamiltonian perturbation terms of arbitrary intensity, is also examined. Two integration approaches are applied to recover the soliton solutions, leading to the observation that the white noise effect remains confined to the phase component of these solutions.

APPLICATION OF PHASEOMETRIC COMPENSATION METHOD FOR DETECTION AND LOCALIZATION OF GEODYNAMIC PROCESSES DURING GEOELECTRICAL CONTROL

This work is devoted to considering the issue of using the compensatory method of geoelectric control using the phase characteristics of the field to detect and localize geodynamic processes using the example of the development of a karst-suffusion cavity. The high noise immunity of the phasemetric method for recording geoelectric signals was noted in comparison with the amplitude parameters of the anomalous component of the electromagnetic field, usually used to analyze observation results. A formalized approach to the use of field phase characteristics to interpret monitoring data and the related problem of localizing geodynamic processes has been developed. Within the framework of this approach, it is proposed to determine the section parameters by the minimum sum of the weighted mean square error of interpretation and the regularizing functional containing a priori information about the geoelectric section. To check the possibility of localizing a spherical karst-suffosion cavity, modeling of the amplitude and phase of the anomalous component of the field potential, as well as the root-mean-square error of heterogeneity localization, was carried out when the center of the sphere moves along the installation profile. Modeling showed good differentiation of the potential from the location of the inhomogeneity; the highest localization accuracy was achieved with the combined use of the amplitude and phase components of the field in the problem of localizing the inhomogeneity.

Spin glass state in Co doped NdMnO3

The temperature-dependent ac susceptibility studies of in-phase component (χ′ac) and out of phase component (χac″) was done on a single phase polycrystalline NdMn0.6Co0.4O3 sample. The measurements were conducted in 4 Oe ac field and 0 Oe dc field at frequencies of 111, 311, 1011, and 1311 Hz. As the frequency increases, the magnitude of χ′ac decreases, and its peak position, corresponding to Tf, moves towards higher temperatures. This strongly suggests the presence of a spin glass (SG) state and the absence of long-range ferromagnetic ordering. The value of relative shift in freezing temperature (δTf) is found to be δTf = 0.0089, which suggests the existence of canonical SG state in NdMn0.6Co0.4O3 sample. To confirm it the ac susceptibility data was further analyzed using Arrhenius, Vogel Fulcher, and Power–law.