Comparative Analysis of V-Akt Murine Thymoma Viral Oncogene Homolog 3 (AKT3) Gene between Cow and Buffalo Reveals Substantial Differences for Mastitis

AKT3 gene is a constituent of the serine/threonine protein kinase family and plays a crucial role in synthesis of milk fats and cholesterol by regulating activity of the sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP). AKT3 is highly conserved in mammals and its expression levels during the lactation periods of cattle are markedly increased. AKT3 is highly expressed in the intestine followed by mammary gland and it is also expressed in immune cells. It is involved in the TLR pathways as effectively as proinflammatory cytokines. The aims of this study were to investigate the sequences differences between buffalo and cow. Our results showed that there were substantial differences between buffalo and cow in some exons and noteworthy differences of the gene size in different regions. We also identified the important consensus sequence motifs, variation in 2000 upstream of ATG, substantial difference in the “3′UTR” region, and miRNA association in the buffalo sequences compared with the cow. In addition, genetic analyses, such as gene structure, phylogenetic tree, position of different motifs, and functional domains, were performed to establish their correlation with other species. This may indicate that a buffalo breed has potential resistance to disease, environment changes, and airborne microorganisms and some good production and reproductive traits

Supergravity based inflation models: a review

In this review, we discuss inflation models based on supergravity. After explaining the difficulties in realizing inflation in the context of supergravity, we show how to evade such difficulties. Depending on types of inflation, we give concrete examples, particularly paying attention to chaotic inflation because the ongoing experiments like Planck might detect the tensor perturbations in near future. We also discuss inflation models in Jordan frame supergravity, motivated by Higgs inflation.Comment: 30 pages, invited review for Classical and Quantum Gravity, published versio

Standardization of Leaf Sampling Technique for Macronutrients in Apricot under Temperate Conditions

Macro- and micro-nutrient content influenced by position of leaf on the shoot and time of sampling was studied to determine leaf-sampling time for apricot grown in temperate region of the country. Results revealed that middle order leaves were the most suitable for determining nutrient needs in apricot trees. Leaf samples should be collected during June - July for determining N, K and Ca; first fortnight of July for P; and, from mid-June to mid-July for Mg

Tunnelling Methods and Hawking's radiation: achievements and prospects

The aim of this work is to review the tunnelling method as an alternative description of the quantum radiation from black holes and cosmological horizons. The method is first formulated and discussed for the case of stationary black holes, then a foundation is provided in terms of analytic continuation throughout complex space-time. The two principal implementations of the tunnelling approach, which are the null geodesic method and the Hamilton-Jacobi method, are shown to be equivalent in the stationary case. The Hamilton-Jacobi method is then extended to cover spherically symmetric dynamical black holes, cosmological horizons and naked singularities. Prospects and achievements are discussed in the conclusions.Comment: Topical Review commissioned and accepted for publication by "Classical and Quantum Gravity". 101 pages; 6 figure

Stimuli-responsive Photoluminescent and Structural Properties of MIL-53(Al) Metal-Organic Framework

The term "metal-organic frameworks" (MOFs) refers to a novel family of crystalline microporous materials that have vast surfaces with customizable functions such as the ability to separate and purify gases [1]. Coordination bonds between organic moieties and metals or metal oxides provide these materials their structural integrity [2]. MOFs may have a flexible structure, which can result in the unusual breathing phenomenon or gate-opening effect: as external stimuli like pressure, temperature, solvents, or gas molecules are added to or removed from MOFs, the pore diameter of the material changes [3]. The class of MOFs that exhibits breathing phenomena has enormous potential in green and renewable energy as media of gas storage, chemical sensors, drug delivery systems, and is therefore at the center of attention of both fundamental and applied research [4]. This framework, MIL-53(M) series, with M = Al, Sc, Cr, Fe, and Ga, is a prototypical family of flexible MOFs, exhibiting a reversible, structural transition (breathing) from large pore (LP) to narrow pore (NP) configurations upon hydration-dehydration, respectively. Generally, the structure of MIL-53(M), is composed of connections of corner-sharing MO4(OH)2 octahedra connected by 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic (BDC) acids. The channels of as- synthetized MIL-53 are filled with disordered BDC and H2O molecules, revealing the NP form of MIL-53 (Al, Cr), which is produced hydrothermally and is referred to as MIL-53 as. The hydrogen-bond interactions between the oxygen atoms of the carboxylic group and the 2-hydroxo group, as well as the hydrogen atoms of the water molecules, are what give rise to this NP structure [5]. Due to the lack of contact, the MIL-53 develops a LP kind of porous structure when dehydrated at high temperatures. Temperature changes, in addition to guest molecules, can cause the framework transition, which results in the dehydration-rehydration cycle. MIL-53 has been demonstrated to exhibit both the LP and NP forms at high and low temperatures (>300 K and 300 K), respectively. The framework transition takes place through two different mechanisms in the absence of van der Waals force interactions between the adsorbent and the adsorbate: (1) twisted benzene groups of benzenedicarboxylate (BDC) ligands, also known as " π-flipping," and (2) distortion mode from the corner- sharing octahedral MO6 (M = Al, Cr) clusters [6]. This work focuses on photophysical characteristics of MIL-53(Al) that includes important properties: it is stable, highly active, and well suited for CO2/CH4 separation, to exhibit good adsorption behavior of organic dyes [7], and to be fluorescent sensors for Fe3+ [8]. Additionally, Al carboxylate-based MOFs were demonstrated to be photoresponsive and to exhibit photocatalytic activity towards RhB degradation and CO2 reduction [9]. Herein, we investigated the photoluminescence (PL) and structural properties of MIL-53(Al) under different stimuli, such as temperature and mechanical pressure, and based on which, selectivity and reusability tests of this material are also performed under different heating-cooling cycles, respectively. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS We prepared different pellets of MIL-53(Al)-activated powder using mechanical hydraulic press with the pressure ranging from 0.044 to 0.22 GPa and then analyzed their PL properties comparing with the powder samples. Time-resolved PL spectra were carried out under a tunable laser excitation, provided by an optical parametric oscillator (VIBRANT OPOTEK) pumped by the third harmonic (3.49 eV) of a Nd:YAG laser (pulse width 5 ns, repetition rate 10 Hz). The emitted light was analyzed by a monochromator equipped with a grating of 150 lines/mm and blaze wavelength 300 nm,and acquired by an intensified CCD camera driven by a delay generator (PIMAX Princeton Instruments) setting the acquisition time window, TW, and the delay, TD, with respect to the arrival of laser pulses. All the emission spectra were detected with a bandwidth of 10 nm and corrected for the monochromator dispersion. We demonstrated that under UV excitation at 305 nm, MIL-53(Al) exhibits two emission bands, both decaying in a ns timescale. The first band is centered at 393 nm and is associated with an Intra-ligand charge transfer mechanism of the BDC linkers; the second is peaked at 452 nm and is related to LMCT transition. When subjected to temperature changes, this luminescent MOF exhibits a unique Ratiometric fluorescence behavior. As shown in Figure 1, the emission at 393 nm is quenched when the sample is heated up to 400 K. It is worth noting that this thermochromic response exhibits reversible relationship of emission intensity with respect to temperature which is shown to be reproducible. Moreover, under higher mechanical stress MIL-53(Al) displays turn-on behavior in PL emission intensity, which also restored towards the original intensity once after the removal of stress, hence offering a thrilling avenue for the application in mechanically deformed-based luminescent sensors. Figure 1 – PL emission spectra of MIL-53(Al) powder recorded under UV excitation at 300 to 400K (in left) and, in right PL emission spectra of MIL-53(Al) powder + pellets pressed at pressure, P = 0.12 to 0.22 GPa In conclusion, the reported results evidence the stimuli-responsive properties of MIL-53(Al) and are relevant in the development of MOFs based sensors. REFERENCES [1] Lee, J.; Farha, O.K.; Roberts, J.; Scheidt, K.A.; Nguyen, S.T.; Hupp, J.T. “Metal-organic framework materials as catalysts”. Chem. Soc. Rev., 38, 1450–1459 (2009) [2] Mueller, U.; Schubert, M.; Teich, F.; Puetter, H.; Schierle-Arndt, K.; Pastré, J. “Metal-organic frameworks—Prospective industrial applications”. J. Mater. Chem., 16, 626–636, (2006) [3] Beurroies, I.; Boulhout, M.; Llewellyn, P.L.; Kuchta, B.; Férey, G.; Serre, C.; Denoyel, R. “Using pressure to provoke the structural transition of metal-organic frameworks”. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 49, 7526–7529 (2010) [4] Khan, N.A.; Hasan, Z.; Jhung, S.H. “Adsorptive removal of hazardous materials using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs): A review”. J. Hazard. Mater., 244–245, 444–456 (2013) [5] Kolokolov, D.I.; Jobic, H.; Stepanov, A.G.; Guillerm, V.; Devic, T.; Serre, C.; Férey, G. “Dynamics of benzene rings in MIL-53(Cr) and MIL-47(V) frameworks studies by 2H NMR spectroscopy”. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 49, 4791–4794 (2010) [6] Alhamami, M.; Doan, H.; Cheng, C.-H. “A Review on Breathing Behaviors of Metal-Organic-Frameworks (MOFs) for Gas Adsorption”. Materials, 7, 3198-3250 (2014) [7] Z.H. Li, Y.N. Wu, J. Li, Y.M. Zhang, X. Zou, F.T. Li, “The Metal–Organic Framework MIL-53(Al) Constructed from Multiple Metal Sources: Alumina, Aluminum Hydroxide, and Boehmite”. Chem. Eur. J., 21, 6913–6920 (2015) [8] C.X. Yang, H.B. Ren, X.P. Yan, “Fluorescent Metal–Organic Framework MIL-53(Al) for Highly Selective and Sensitive Detection of Fe3+ in Aqueous Solution”. Anal. Chem., 85, 7441–7446 (2013) [9] Y. An, H. Li, Y. Liu, B. Huang, Q. Sun, Y. Dai, X. Qin, X. Zhang, “Photoelectrical, photophysical and photocatalytic properties of Al based MOFs: MIL-53(Al) and MIL-53-NH2(Al)”. J. of S.S Chem., 233, 194-198 (2016

Multiplicity dependence of jet-like two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger and associated particles are measured by the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The transverse-momentum range 0.7 $< p_{\rm{T}, assoc} < p_{\rm{T}, trig} <$ 5.0 GeV/$c$ is examined, to include correlations induced by jets originating from low momen\-tum-transfer scatterings (minijets). The correlations expressed as associated yield per trigger particle are obtained in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<0.9$. The near-side long-range pseudorapidity correlations observed in high-multiplicity p-Pb collisions are subtracted from both near-side short-range and away-side correlations in order to remove the non-jet-like components. The yields in the jet-like peaks are found to be invariant with event multiplicity with the exception of events with low multiplicity. This invariance is consistent with the particles being produced via the incoherent fragmentation of multiple parton--parton scatterings, while the yield related to the previously observed ridge structures is not jet-related. The number of uncorrelated sources of particle production is found to increase linearly with multiplicity, suggesting no saturation of the number of multi-parton interactions even in the highest multiplicity p-Pb collisions. Further, the number scales in the intermediate multiplicity region with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions estimated with a Glauber Monte-Carlo simulation.Comment: 23 pages, 6 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 17, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/161

Luminescent Properties of Breathing MIL-53(Al) MOF for Sensing Applications

Metal organic frameworks" (MOFs) are a novel family of crystalline microporous materials that have a very high surface area with customizable functions of great impact in the field of green and renewable energies as a media of gas storages, chemical sensors, drug delivery systems [1]. While, in general, coordination bond between organic moieties and metal nodes provides structural integrity. Only some MOFs have a flexible structure, which can cause the breathing phenomenon or gate-opening effect: when external stimuli like pressure, temperature and solvents are added to or removed from MOFs, the pore diameter changes [2]. The uniqueness of MOF breathing attracts great interest both in fundamental and applied research, the tunable pore sizes are, for example, of practical use for separating and purifying the adsorbed gases. One of the main families of flexible MOFs is the MIL- 53(M) series, with M = Al, Sc, Cr, Fe, and Ga, that show a reversible structural transition (breathing) from large to narrow pore upon hydration-dehydration, respectively. It has been proposed that this transition takes place through two different mechanisms in the absence of van der Waals force interactions between the adsorbent and the adsorbate: (1) twisted benzene groups of benzenedicarboxylate ligands, also known as " π-flipping," and (2) distortion mode from the corner- sharing octahedral MO6 (M = Al, Cr) clusters [3]. Herein, we deal with the MIL-53(Al) and we focus our attention on its ratiometric photoluminescence (PL) behavior under external stimuli, such as temperature and mechanical pressure. To this aim, we studied different samples, both in the form of powder and pellets obtained with a mechanical hydraulic press. Time-resolved PL spectra were carried out under a tunable laser excitation, provided by an optical parametric oscillator (VIBRANT OPOTEK) pumped by the third harmonic (3.49 eV) of a Nd:YAG laser (pulse width 5 ns, repetition rate 10 Hz). The emitted light was analyzed by a monochromator equipped with a grating of 150 lines/mm and acquired by an intensified CCD camera driven by a delay generator (PIMAX Princeton Instruments) setting the acquisition time window, TW, and the delay, TD, with respect to the arrival of laser pulses. Our results showed that under UV excitation at 305 nm, MIL-53(Al) emits two PL bands, centered at 393 nm (violet) and 452 nm (blue), both decaying in a ns timescale. On varying the temperature from 300 up to 400 K, the violet PL is quenched while the intensity of the other band remains almost constant. The decrease of the violet band is accompanied by a shortening of its lifetime, due to the activation of non-radiative channels from the excited state. It is worth noting that this thermochromic response shows a reversible relationship of the emission intensity when the temperature is decreased from 400 to 300 K. Moreover, also under mechanical stress the emission at 393 nm changes: its intensity increases when the mechanical pressure increases up to 0.22 GPa. In conclusion, the reported results evidence the stimuli-responsive properties of MIL-53(Al) and are relevant in the development of thermally and mechanically deformed-based luminescent MOF sensors. References [1] Khan, N.A.; Hasan, Z.; Jhung, S.H. “Adsorptive removal of hazardous materials using metal- organic frameworks (MOFs): A review”. J. Hazard. Mater., 244–245, 444–456 (2013). [2] Beurroies, I.; Boulhout, M.; Llewellyn, P.L.; Kuchta, B.; Férey, G.; Serre, C.; Denoyel, R. “Using pressure to provoke the structural transition of metal-organic frameworks”. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 49, 7526–7529 (2010). [3] Alhamami, M.; Doan, H.; Cheng, C.-H. “A Review on Breathing Behaviors of Metal-Organic- Frameworks (MOFs) for Gas Adsorption”. Materials, 7, 3198-3250 (2014)

Experimental Study of the Post-Fire Mechanical and Material Response of Cold-Worked Austenitic Stainless Steel Reinforcing Bar

Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. This paper is concerned with the behaviour of stainless steel reinforcing bar following exposure to elevated temperatures from a fire, followed by subsequent cooling. Stainless steel-reinforced concrete is an increasingly popular solution for structural applications which require corrosion resistance, excellent mechanical properties, and long life cycles with little maintenance. In addition, although stainless steel reinforcement has a higher initial cost compared with traditional carbon steel bars, the overall life cycle costs are likely to be quite similar, owing to the lack of maintenance required for stainless steel materials. There is no information available in the literature on the post-fire properties of austenitic stainless steel reinforcement, although these data are essential for any engineer who wishes to study the structural integrity of a reinforced concrete component or system following a fire. Accordingly, this paper presents a detailed discussion and analysis from the results of a series of laboratory experiments on three grades of austenitic stainless steel reinforcement following various levels of temperature exposure and also different cooling rates. Both the mechanical and metallurgical properties are examined, and the behaviour is compared to that of B500B carbon steel reinforcement. It is shown that the stainless steel bars retained their mechanical properties under the majority of the scenarios examined and to a greater degree than traditional materials. This is important for the rehabilitation and salvage of existing reinforced concrete structures following a fire and also to avoid unnecessary demolition and replacement

Stimuli-responsive photoluminescent and structural properties of MIL-53(Al) MOF for sensing applications

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an intriguing group of porous materials due to their potential influence on the development of indispensable technologies like luminescent sensors and solid-state light devices, luminescent multifunctional nanomaterials. In this research work we explored MIL-53(Al), an exceptional class of MOF that, along with guest adsorption, undergoes structural transitions exhibiting breathing behavior between narrow pore and large pore under temperature and mechanical stress. Therefore, we opted for the time resolved luminescence and FT-Raman spectroscopy to investigate the mechanochromic and thermochromic response of this material under external stimuli. Intriguingly, when subjected to temperature changes, MIL-53(Al) exhibited a ratiometric fluorescence behavior related to the reversible relationship of photoluminescence emission intensity with respect to temperature. Moreover, under higher mechanical stress MIL-53(Al) displayed turn-on behavior in emission intensity, hence offering a thrilling avenue for the application in mechanically deformed-based luminescent sensors and ratiometric fluorescence temperature sensors